To seek revenge may lead to Hell
by Redemption by Fire
Summary: and in most cases in does. Sweeney may find however Hell is just what he needed. The future of the rest of the characters as seen through Sweeney in his journey in the afterlife,to aid him and them in a story of redemption.
1. to seek revenge may lead to Hell

This is set after the end of the play…not a sequel but a continuation of the surviving cast members as seen through the deceased cast members….as how things are more connected then they seem….or will be

I of course own nothing…blah…blah…blah….I also make some assumptions about various characters thoughts over the course of the play which are my own since a great deal of things are not specified…especially about the more minor characters…so some past events are of my own imaginings…

Plain text narration

Bold text dialogue spoken

Italic text thoughts

Different fontsvisuals of other people…. This will make sense as the story goes on

The year is 1848 for your information since I will be trying to keep a great deal of historical accuracy or as much as possible…one of my major pet peeves with fanfiction is when they happen in stories obviously in the past…that have items or events that couldn't possibly have existed or happened at that time.

Enough blah…blah…blah on with the story

Sweeney

Sweeney or rather Benjamin, had always imagined at the end of life that a bright light would surround you, but here was only pitch black darkness. That must be only the sort of thing that one going to heaven would see however, since this was not what greeted him in death. But then again he would never know about the bright light being part of heaven anyways so it didn't matter.

Not being able to see anything, not even any part of his body, Sweeney just let himself exist. Motionless in any dimension, he tried to awaken his consciousness. If this was limbo, was this where he was to be for forever? If this was hell, this wasn't so bad?

Of course as he thought this last statement, something in the darkness changed. It wasn't a light in the distance; no it seemed just as though certain parts of the darkness had gotten darker, if that was possible. But the most important change was that he felt no longer alone.

**Hello?**

There was no reply. Sweeney sighed heavily… then thought I odd it was that in death he could sigh, and speak for that matter. Especially considering how he died. His thoughts were taking a u-turn in that direction, when he was suddenly struck with the feeling of not being alone again.

**Hello?**

This time he was greeted with a response.

**Yesssssssss**

The voice had a hissing quality to it, and it made Sweeney's mind shiver in anticipation. It was definitely a female voice, but none he had even heard before.

**Who are you? And where am I?**

**Look around you…..**

At this everywhere around him lit up as with all the fires of Hell. There was no heat to the flame, but in it Sweeney could see a woman-like creature…she was like a woman, but none that he knew…exotic and seductive were the most accurate words to describe such as woman…someone powerful and controlling would also be just as accurate. But no words would ever come close to the whole picture that she was. The fires seem to flow with her as she walked towards Sweeney.

**So… this is Hell is it? Personally thought it would be more painful.**

**Who said that this was it?**

She hissed that last statement as well. Sweeney said nothing to this. He looked down and saw himself physically, just as he had looked before he died. There was even the blood on his shirt.

**So are you saying this might not be Hell? Or are you implying that there is more torture to come?**

**Well that depends doesn't it?**

Sweeney was not sure what to make of that statement. So he changed the subject.

**So who are you?**

He still hadn't gotten an answer to that question.

**That depends as well. **

This was starting to anger Sweeney. Earlier she had been more seductive, now she was being straight forward and matter of fact in terms of tone, but really her answers were just more questions. There was a long awkward pause, when neither of them moved or spoke. This seemed not to be awkward for the woman however and she stood there as thought no time had pasted at all. You could only tell she not frozen because blinked her eyes every so often. Sweeney was just as annoyed with this as with her answers. It seemed like an eternity before he decided this annoyed him more.

**So what next? I am to stare at you for all of eternity or have you come merely to torment me in some fashion? **

The woman smiled. Not a nice smile, it was really more of a smirk. When she did speak, she seemed to be enjoying herself.

**So no more waffling? Sigh, I do enjoy being melodramatic. **

The hissing quality was back.

**I will make this as clear as I can. You are where you think you are, and I am who you want me to be. And what happens next is what you expect. At least for now, anyways. **

She laughed at this. This of course seemed to be exactly what she doing before and Sweeney made a bold move to grab her. If he was already in hell, at least things wouldn't get worse for strangling the annoy tart of a woman. But there was nothing to touch; she blew away as though smoke. Sweeney sighed.

_Good riddance!_

Of course she was not that easy to get rid of. Sweeney turned to see if the fire extended behind him, and there she was.

**Why? **

Sweeney was taken aback by such a striking question. He paused before attempting to speak, and then realized now none of his answers seemed to be good enough. He supposed he had gotten used to just killing people after all. He looked at his feet. When he looked back up she no longer seemed to be sorrowful, she was angry.

**I am finished here. I can contribute nothing to your understanding, and you belong where you belong. **

She paused and looked up as though she was pondering something large and complicated. She sighed as well and looked back down at Sweeney. For the first time she looked sad.

**Fortunately, I feel that things are not over entirely. Not fortunately for you of course, for you might wish at some point you were back here with my babbling, standing the flames which do not burn. **

At this she turned and left slowly, taking the fire with her. Sweeney not sure what to do just stood there as the flames disappeared and he was slowly left in the udder blackness he started in.

But the blackness was soon replaced by smoke. Lots of lots of smoke. Sweeney thought it odd that in death he could still choke on it. He waved his arms about in hopes this would clear some of it from his face. Instead it cleared the majority of it away, and Sweeney was once again inside the upstairs barbershop. There was nothing it, but the chair and the box that held his razors. Not even a door or a window.

Sweeney sighed heavily.

_This is most certainly Hell. _

He picked up his box, which did contain his razors, and sat down with them in his barber chair. He fingered his neck, and saw to his surprise that it was not only cut open, but apparently still bleeding. He stared at his now bloody fingers.

_Toby…_

He closed his eyes and sighed.

That was all it took for Sweeney's first surprise to show itself. Inside his eyes was just as vivid as having his eyelids open. Only it wasn't his room. It was Toby.

Toby seemed to be enclosed in a cell of sorts. He was facing the wall of this cell, so all Sweeney could see was his white hair. The cell door opened but he didn't move at all. A girl that Sweeney had never seen before was thrown in with him. She looked several years his senior, with blue eyes and short brown hair, almost at a boy cut. It looked highly unfashionable that way, and looked like it had been cut by a five year old.

She sat down at the opposite side of the cell, since it seemed her cellmate could care less at her arrival.

Then one of the guards yelled in the cell before leaving, "Now you two devils spawn can enjoy each others company." This caused him to laugh at himself, and he walked away.

Sweeney noticed the girl did not flinch at this statement, but merely looked over to her cellmate. Toby however had moved. His face was not up against the wall, but …yes he was now moving it closer…ouch…Sweeney flinched as Toby threw his head full force at the wall. This seemed to unsettle the girl as well, because she made an attempt to stop him from doing it a second time. This caused Toby to flinch at her touch and he whipped around teeth bared, and tried to bite her. She of course backed away at this. She sat back down, and watched him hit his head against the wall several more times until he could take it no more and flopped to a sitting position up against the wall. He began rocking back and forth.

She cleared her throat. "My name is Grace…what is your name?" But Toby made no reply.

Sweeney opened his eyes. His room was exactly as before, except there was the chest now in the corner. Sweeney didn't move towards it however. He could only imagine it would be not worth opening. He was sure it contained none other then the body of Senior Perelli, because this seemed to be the way his Hell was going to work.


	2. piss and ink

Chapter 2- Piss with Ink

Sweeney Todd sat in that barber chair for a long time. But soon he began to get bored. He dared not close his eyes again, and he dared not to open the chest, so he just sat there. Finally he decided he was going to have to pick one or the other, so he put down his razors in the chair. He walked over towards the chest. The closer he got, the fouler it smelt. Sweeney held his breath, and opened the lid.

There was Signor Pirelli, just as he expected, only he looked dead. But just as Sweeney was about to close the lid again, he opened his eyes.

**Ahh!! Don'ta closa me in! Eet has been zo lon. Eet ez zo dark en here. **

Sweeney sighed and left the lid open, but walked away from Pirelli. Pirelli climbed out of the chest.

**Dis ez zo muh bezzer,…why I…**

**Give it up, O'Higgins!**

At this sudden burst of anger from Sweeney, Daniel O'Higgins seemed to suddenly remember how he was killed. Reaching for his neck he too found it still bleeding. This seemed to disgust him, more then surprise him.

Sweeney realized that at this moment that he knew absolutely nothing about Daniel O'Higgins. He vaguely remembered hiring a kid to sweep floors, but he didn't remember why or anything about the boy. He just remembered what he seen of Pirelli later. And from what he remembered of the very short conversations he had with Toby involving Pirelli, which he could really only remember one of, Pirelli seemed to be a regular sleazy man, not the spirited boy that thought sweeping floors was an honor.

This train of thought took him to thinking about how nobody seemed to figure out who Sweeney Todd was. Benjamin Barker seemed so long ago that he almost seemed to be someone else. Sweeney sighed and surmised the same had occurred with Pirelli. He had lived so long as someone else; he became someone else, except for the actual skill part. O'Higgins was hired as a floor sweeper for a reason.

Of course this train of thought was interrupted again, but this time by Toby. Sweeney was in a reflective mood and had forgotten about the closing his eyes thing for just a second, and whoosh he was off to view Toby's life again.

Toby was sitting in the same place as before, but it was clear time had passed. The girl was still his cellmate and she looked worse for the wear. Toby was refusing to eat, and he seemed so thin, he looked as though he could be pushed over with one finger. The girl, Grace, Sweeney seemed to recall was her name, was trying to offer her food to him. They had the same porridge-like substance but she seemed to have a piece of pear in hers. Perhaps thought Sweeney, a guard had taken to her, though he could see why, she wasn't anything special in appearance. Toby was tight lipped however. "Come on, you know what will happen if they see you aren't eating. You've already had it done once, and wasn't it painful enough? Please, Toby"

Toby looked up, and made a weak laugh sound, "Pirelli tasted better then anything I had ever had before…did you know that…." He sort of cackled at that, and looked away.

The girl, Grace, looked confused. "What is Pirelli?"

"T'was Pirelli's Miracle Elixir…that's wot did the trick sir, true sir, true…" Toby rambled on with the familiar musical ditty, but it seemed rote and monotonous this time around.

"Well I don't have an elixir; you'll have to eat this without it."

"Don't worry, t'was only piss with ink…."

The…Grace seemed even more confused as to what he was trying to get across. She sighed in apparent frustration. But then a look of panic crossed her eyes. She couldn't have figured it out that fast, could she? But that was not the case. Grace seemed to run for the other side of the room in a hurry and tried to lie down. She didn't make it before she started seizing up, and flailing her arms and legs about. This violent seizure frightened Toby and he stood up and flattened himself against the wall. This lasted for about a minute, and then it took another 5 minutes or so for Grace to refocus and regain the ability to speak.

She gave a weak laugh not too far off from Toby's earlier. "Now you know why I'm here."

She looked down… and swore. "Now I'm going to smell like piss."

Toby backed down from the wall and sat down again. It was a few minutes before he spoke.

"Now if you find ink, we can make a small fortune…." He tittered at this joke, then realizing who had made the joke the first time, he stopped.

Sweeney could tell in his eyes, that he was thinking of him. It was that same look he had in his eyes when he had killed him, his normally soft brown eyes, clouded over till it seemed that his iris and his pupils were the color of….

They were a cute match. Their own special Elixir.


	3. The closest shave I ever gave

So the different font thing doesn't work so I guess I will bold and Italic them at the same time instead. Please review.

Chapter 3-The closest shave I ever gave

Sweeney once again found himself in his tonsorial parlor. It seemed no time had passed at since he closed his eyes except that with Pirelli around it was obvious he had moved. He moved so much in fact that he was behind Sweeney a great deal now and was examining the barber chair.

**Marvelous piece of work; looks handcrafted. **

**Yes, it is. Now leave it alone.**

**Territorial even in death I see. You always were though. Even as Benjamin Barker. **

Sweeney scoffed at that. But deep down he knew that this was true. Benjamin was a self-made man, everything he owned came from his sweet and toil. Just as Sweeney's business was made of men. He smiled at this cynical joke.

Which was just enough distraction time for Pirelli to wonder what the lever on the side did. And to pull it to find out.

Sweeney turned his attention back to Pirelli in time to see his box with his razors in it, fall down into the shoot he had made.

**Arg! What did you do that for?**

Sweeney grabbed Pirelli roughly and slammed him against the nearest wall.

**Honest I just though that it would tilt the chair…and say where does that go anyway?**

Sweeney anger died but his grip did not. Pirelli had been dead for a long time, and he knew nothing of what had happened since. Even though he had been in the chest, it seemed that being in the chest here in Hell did not allow you hear or see things as though you were in the chest in the physical world.

**It takes evil to the mouth of Hell. **

Was Sweeney's curt reply. Pirelli seemed puzzled by this answer. He seemed to be debating on whether Sweeney was being serious or not. Pirelli was a man quick on his feet with words. But understanding concepts on the other hand, was like gears in need of oil.

**Last I remember your chair didn't look like this. Is this new here? **

Pirelli's simple question got a simple response of no.

**I missed a lot of livin' didn't I, Mr. Barker? **

Sweeney was taken aback by this comment, not the words in particular, but the sorrowful tone in which he stated this. And he had called him Barker. Not Mr. Todd. It was though for a second Sweeney once again saw the gangly youth who sweep his floors for him.

Pirelli looked back up at Sweeney and saw a man trying hard to maintain a nonchalant air about him. If he had still been a plotting man, trying to scrounge money from Mr. Todd, Pirelli would have plunged his metaphorical sword at that crack in Sweeney's armor. And he would have succeeded perhaps in causing a meltdown. Perhaps he could have started the release of Benjamin as he knew him. But Daniel O'Higgins had nothing to lose at this point from not doing so. He could only go up, so he didn't dig deeper.

So Sweeney Todd prevailed for a little while longer.


	4. the vermin of the world inhabit it

Chapter 4-And the vermin of the world inhabit it

By the time Sweeney had collected himself enough to shut out any trace of Benjamin Barker, Pirelli had disappeared. This time something else new had presented itself. The door. Pirelli had exited the room and had left a door visible to Sweeney.

_Perhaps all of these things are here all the time, but I just can't see them. _

Sweeney thought to himself. Which was indeed a wise thought.

Sweeney wondered if the rest of London would look exactly the same outside his door. Would it look exactly as it had before he had died? Or just similar.

He decided the only way to find out was to exit his parlor and go down the stairs.

Sweeney slowly descended the stairs into the world outside, which was exactly like the London that he knew. Except for one thing. The streets which were normally busy and bustling were empty. Not a soul could be seen. Hell seemed to be very empty. Or at least around here. He turned to glance back at his shop. There it stood exactly as he remembered it. About Mrs. Lovett's pie shop. Mrs. Lovett.

Mrs. Lovett. Sweeney had forgotten about her till now. Her store front had a door so apparently he could go in. But he did not want to. She would be just as happy to see him, as he would be if Judge Turpin had walked by this moment. Judge Turpin. He had forgotten about him as well. In fact, staring at Mrs. Lovett's sign, he seemed to have momentarily forgotten a great deal of things in death.

But his razors were in there.

But he shouldn't need them, everyone here was already dead. Hopefully.

Torn on which option would be worse, being without his razors, or perhaps running into Mrs. Lovett, Sweeney began to reflect on how badly his plans had gone. Or perhaps his lack of real plan, except death to the Judge, had gotten a lot of people in…

His thoughts were interrupted by at that moment, Judge Turpin coming around the corner. The Judge hadn't seen him yet, and in a moment of cowardness, Sweeney or Benjamin, which one neither could really be certain of, decided that dealing with Mrs. Lovett would be the less painful option.

How wrong they were.


	5. Have you come in for a pie, sir?

Chapter 5-Did you come in for a pie, sir?

Sweeney was just missed by the Judge, as he ducked into Mrs. Lovett's store front. She was not there however. Sweeney sighed in relief. He turned to look out the window, which her store had, to see if the Judge had passed by. He was not to be seen. He turned back around to come to face to face with Pirelli. In the background he noticed this time, the Beadle sitting at the harmonium.

He turned to face Sweeney.

**I am entirely at you disposal… good one, sir. Always love a good laugh. And with a musical send off as well, couldn't have done better myself. Quick, fast, and surrounded by my one true love. **

Sweeney was taken aback for the second time that day. That is if all this could be measured in days, or the like. At least it felt like one long day.

**Didn't you know? No, of course you wouldn't. And there one thing I do enjoy more then a good joke, is a joke that only I get. **

Sweeney had no reply to that. It was digging at him that he had no idea what the Beadle talking about, but he tried not to let that show. Unfortunately, he was not very good at not appearing annoyed.

The Beadle didn't continue of course. He turned back around to play on the harmonium, playing through the Tower of Bray from the beginning.

**He got fired he did, right before coming here. **

**Shhh…your spoiling my enjoyment.**

Pirelli had tried to speak up and had been shushed. Apparently they had been talking.

**What for? And then why would you come here on official business?**

Sweeney could feel a deep sense that this story was going to cause him a good deal of grief. But still he pressed on, his curiosity more powerful then his sense of dread.

…**Well, I suppose I will get more enjoyment out of watching you squirm. I came because I cared. I suspected something was up, and I was finally doing something just because I could, not because I had to. **

This was not the end of the story of course, but the Beadle paused for emphasis. Sweeney's fingers paced nervously.

**Of course my change of heart was brought upon by my own realization that I was mortal. I had just come back from my physician the other day you see… and he told me I was dying. **

This caused Sweeney to smile slightly. But the Beadle smiled back just as sinister. Sweeney's smile faltered.

**So I started doing the things that I had wanted to do my whole life. I told the Judge exactly what I thought of his ways, especially regarding how he holds his court. I told my girl, Annie, I loved her, and fixed the Johanna problem as best I could. **

His smile widened even more at this. It made Sweeney uneasy.

**What do you mean by that? **

The Beadle laughed.

**How else do you think, thick as mud sailor boy found her? Really, all on his own. Knew he was following me, so I lead him right to her. Figured he would find someway to break her out. **

Sweeney felt everything falling into place on its own, without him, and on top of him.

**I came here to do all my duties that I had been avoiding for fear of men and women whom I no longer cared if I had offended. I had already begun to lose everything anyway. **

**I had no idea what a dirty little gold mine I had stepped on when I came here. Never in my wildest dreams could I have seen such a scheme! **

The Beadle paused to compose himself. Sweeney just stared. His head was spinning too much to respond.

**It seems that the cruelty of men was worse then I imagined. I suppose you could have had a right to knock me off, and most certainly the Judge, but what about all those other blokes in there? What did they do to you? Surely there are way too many.**

He had not known how that first statement would have struck Sweeney before he said it, but he could see however that he had put a dent in his armor. Sweeney just stared for a long time processing what he had just learned.

_Perhaps you see men can change for the better as well as the worser. _

_Oh Shut up!_

_Don't you hush me! I have kept silent for long enough. _

It had been a long time since they had had a disagreement. Sweeney had begun to wonder if he had killed off his past self along with all those other men. But it seems he had not.

_You have caused more of a mess then I planned you would. I should have never let you hold the reins for this long. _

_It was your plan, yes. But you are too much of a coward to have gone through with it. You needed me to fulfill your desires. _

_My plan was to kill the Judge and free my wife and child. You did so much more then that. _

_They all deserved to die._

_Even you, I suppose. Which I had to do for you. Physically anyway. _

_Even you as well. _

_I can't die. I'm the original here. You are merely an extension of me that has had too much power, for quite too long. _

If the two of them had lived to have read Stevenson's book called Jekyll and Hyde in 1878, they would have realized that they were fighting a loosing battle trying to destroy each other.

That was Mrs. Lovett's problem really as well. Her plan to stick people in pies was to leave no trace, to destroy them. But one can't really destroy things; they just take a different form, constantly remaining part of the universe in some manner. The past can't be destroyed, just as Sweeney Todd could not be either. Both things must be embraced. Of course that would be a long time coming.

**How many are there?**

Pirelli was amazed by this story, and still lost as to what was exactly going on. The Beadle looked to Sweeney to respond, but as he was having this internal argument he did not notice. So the Beadle responded.

**30 maybe 40 or so others. **

Pirelli's mouth hung open. Or was it Danny's. In this place it was hard to tell who was who.

**Bloody Hell.**

Sweeney laughed roughly at this.

**How too right you are. A Bloody Hell. **

Benjamin cringed internally. Sweeney smiled.

A long, loud wail at that moment pierced the group's ears. Danny shivered, the Beadle became unsettled, and Sweeney held his ears.

**I suppose it replays itself, over, and over again. **

The Beadle spoke up, and tried to make his away towards the door.

**Certainly, I think I have had enough. It is not my problem. Come, Danny wasn't it? We need not add to her torment. **

Danny got up and followed, giving only a moment's pause to look back at the door to the Bake house and Sweeney.

Sweeney made move for the door, but it disappeared behind them.

_That's how things work around here I suppose. You'll have to deal with her now, and the rest of them. _

_Not without you. _

_You can't rid of me if you tried. _

Deep down however, Benjamin didn't want to go in either. So they continue to stand firm. In this moment of obvious cowardness on their part, they both decided together that they should sit down instead. And closed their eyes. Together.


	6. Awake evey morning in shame and despair

Chapter 6- Awake every morning in shame and despair

_**Time had obviously passed in the small cell. Grace's hair had reached her shoulders and Toby's hair was teasing the area. The both of them looked worse physically then previously, but they seemed to have learned to get along to some degree because they were no longer on opposite sides of the cell. Toby was watching Grace sleep in one of the stone cold corners. **_

"_**You remind me of me mum." He told no one in particular. **_

_**Knowing that he called Mrs. Lovett that, Sweeney wasn't sure which mum he meant. Hopefully not Mrs. Lovett. The girl at least looked nothing like Mrs. Lovett. **_

"_**What was her name?" Sweeney asked, testing if Toby could hear him. He hadn't thought to try this before. **_

_**Toby shivered but made no motions that he had heard any words. Sweeney wondered if the shiver was from his presence or the cold drafty air in the cell. **_

_**Grace began to stir. Toby looked away. Benjamin smiled. He didn't want her knowing he'd been watching her. How cute. Sweeney scoffed at that. **_

_**Grace sat up, looking worse now that she was awake. "That sleep did me no good." She told no one in particular. **_

_**But just as Toby had talked to her, hoping she would hear, and not hear in the same token, Grace was hoping Toby had been watching her sleep as she suspected. She looked over and noticed Toby was shivering. **_

_**Grace stood up and walked toward the cell door. She stood on her tiptoes to see out, and noticing a guard she spoke up. "Sir…if we could have a blanket or something, it is very cold here." This guard however must not have been the one to have taken a shine to her. "You keep whining about it, and I'll give you something to whine about." And he threw something at her. **_

_**It was hard and black and hit Grace right on the forehead before falling into the cell with them. **_

_**Grace made no sound of pain, but rubbed her forehead. She turned around, and could see Toby had been watching the whole thing. She picked up the object. **_

_**Coal. Fat lot of good that would do her, Sweeney thought and Benjamin agreed. But to their surprise, she smiled. **_

_**Grace sat down next to Toby. He looked hesitantly at her, not sure of what to expect. She appeared to be writing something above Toby's head on the wall. And then above her head. **_

_**She laughed at her own funny joke, as she had written both of their names above where they were sitting. Toby however looked at the words and frowned. **_

"_**What are you laughing for?" He asked gruffly. **_

_**Grace stopped laughing. "Surely, it is nothing but our names. Perhaps to mark our place of death, for it is only November, and we surely will die without blankets or something." **_

_**Toby turned to look at his name. Sweeney thought this was probably true, and that he rather liked this girl. Morbid and laughing 'til the end. **_

"_**That is all it is? My name?" **_

_**Grace turned to face him. "Yes… surely you can read this for yourself?" **_

_**Toby turned his face towards the ground in shame.**_

_**Grace realized her mistake. She picked up the coal again, and wrote on the ground not far from Toby, his name and the letters A, B, and C. **_

"_**We shall have to amend this grave oversight." She proclaimed and giggled at herself again. **_

"_**You sound like you came from a fancy story." Toby mumbled. **_

_**Grace smiled. "Well, maybe I did. That would have been a marvelous thing, if it were true. I have read enough stories that I feel I should have lived in any one of those places." She sighed. **_

"_**You know stories?" Toby piped up, looking almost as he had the first time Sweeney had ever laid eyes on him. But not quite the same. **_

_**Grace smiled. "More then you have heard before, I'm sure. You learn your letters for today, and… I tell you a story."**_

"_**Really? Any story."**_

"_**Any story."**_

_**Benjamin laughed to himself. It seemed that one piece of coal, could warm more then a blanket. **_

Sweeney opened his eyes.

_We really can't avoid her for much longer._

_I know._

_Do you really think all the people you killed are in there with her?_

_We killed…you mean._

Benjamin didn't argue this. He needed the two of them to work together, if they were to survive what lay ahead for them in the Bake house. Plus anymore, Benjamin was wondering if doing something and let it happen were really any different.


	7. Never thought I'd live to see the day

Chapter 7- Never though I'd live to see the day

With resolve, Sweeney pushed the door to the Bake house open. He was not greeted by anything, or anyone. Everything was set up just as he remembered it before he had met his end. Except there were no bodies. And there was nobody alive either.

Sweeney reached out and fingered the meat grinder. In a morbid moment, Benjamin wondered whether the general public, had they a chance, would have liked the taste of Sweeney Todd. Sweeney laughed out loud at that thought.

This is of course set what the Beadle had referred to as, "it" in motion.

The loud whistle that was heard at work's end every night from the nearest factory shrilled. Instantly, the room was filled with bodies. And above each body, there seemed to float an ethereal ghost-like person to match. Sweeney watched in amazement. They all seemed to face the doors of the lit oven. A few of them noticed Sweeney, and whispers between them began. But mostly they ignored him and faced the oven.

Sweeney wondered what they could possibly be waiting for.

Suddenly the doors of the oven burst open.

The flames that had surrounded Sweeney earlier, gave off no heat. But these seemed to sear the hair right off your head from a good 5-6 feet away.

Sweeney looked through the cracks of his fingers. There stood an eerily quiet, soot covered figure, which unmistakably belonged to Mrs. Lovett.

All at once the ghost-like people began to talk. There were so many it was hard to keep track of what they were all saying. Sweeney caught words like, 'get', 'deserves', and 'pays.'

All at once they began to move forward as though they were an army crossing the battle line. They rushed Mrs. Lovett and she began to scream. It was the same sound Sweeney had heard from the parlor earlier. They pushed her back until she was in the oven again and they collectively closed the door. Instantly they disappeared, leaving the bake house exactly as Sweeney had seen it when he entered.

_Weird._

This thought was collective.

_Did you recognize most of those people? Were they really all ones we had killed? _

_Yes._

Sweeney took note that Benjamin had said we.

_So what now? _

_Stop it of course. We can't leave her to replay that over and over again. _

_Although she might enjoy it more then seeing us. _

Benjamin took note that Sweeney said us.

_I doubt that. Though it will be a close call._

They laughed. One in good humor, one sorrowfully.

_Seriously though, if we are ever to get out of here, we have to do something. _

_I know. Maybe if I…_

_No. _

Benjamin sighed. He didn't figure he would just be handed the reins. Not now, maybe not ever.

_Fine, I would like to see you do something. Better then I could. You don't even like her._

There was silence inside Sweeney's head now as well as outside.

_I was not the one to throw her in. _

There was discomforting silence now.

_It was you Benjamin Barker that thought that she was annoying. Not I. You were the one who blamed her for all of these people's deaths. For her cunning plan that enabled me to take more leisure, and her to raise herself out of poverty. Seriously I think it was a good plan._

_But…people were eating other…people. _

_And this was a problem for whom?_

_It's disgusting._

_As I recall they tasted pretty good actually. _

Benjamin sighed. That itself was more disgusting then the idea.

_So you blamed HER for the things that I started, and then you couldn't control. You blamed her for poisoning the public. Personally I think those people ate better and felt fuller then in a long time. They were actually being fed. _

_I was ready to FORGIVE her, even for lying about your wife being dead, and you throw her into the open doors of the oven. _

Benjamin cowered. Sweeney continued.

_When it came down to it, you Benjamin Barker were just as angry and vengeful as I. Only rather then admit that, you created me. And rather then take the blame for things, you blame Mrs. Lovett. The woman who only did any of this because she loved…._

_Shut up! Shut up! I am done with you. I wish to hear no more of this nonsense. _

Sweeney laughed.

_Alright then if it was all nonsense prove it. You wanted the reins. You do it. You try and get her out of the oven, and chase all those ghosts away. Because if didn't want any of this, then you should have an easy time explaining this, and therefore we can get out of here so much faster. _

Silence.

_This is all from being around you, that's all. You rubbed off on me. _

Sweeney laughed again.

_God, you are such an idiot. Who said earlier, that I was merely an extension of you, gone wrong, and in control for too long? If that was true, then I am merely a part of you. I wouldn't have existed if you hadn't let me out, hadn't made me. You…are seriously messed up, if you are going to blame this all on me. Go. Knock um dead._

And with that, Sweeney went into the deep corners of the mind he was a part of, merely to watch and not to interfere. And Benjamin, for the first time in 15 years was alone. In the Bake house. With the whistle blowing. Again.


	8. The trouble with poet

Chapter 8- the trouble with poet, is how do you know it's deceased?

Benjamin jumped. He had no plan. The great planner of plans was plan less. Benjamin had plans for his shop, plans for his children, plans for his wife, and plans for everything else.

The oven door opened.

Benjamin just went for impulse.

**Stop**

All of the dead turned to look at him.

**It's him. **

Collectively the group gasped. Now they began to mutter and talk amongst themselves.

**Cut it out. Leave her alone. **

Benjamin yelled loudly, his voice echoing back to him.

The apparent ring leader of the group stepped forward. Benjamin recognized him as a man that lived down the street from him as a child. He was the oldest man there, and apparently the others had rally around him because of this.

**And why should we listen to you? **

Benjamin remembered why he had killed him.

_God, I just said that I killed him. _

The man was a known seductor and had de-flowered a great many young girls over the years. Only no one did anything, because he was a bobbie, a part of the police force.

_They all deserved to die. God, where does Sweeney end and I begin?_

**Because this is my Hell. **

This at least Benjamin supposed was true.

**You aren't even solid here, you are all like ghosts. You should go on your merry way. You belong elsewhere. You deserve peace.**

Unfortunately, Benjamin realized that he only half meant the last statement.

**So if this is your Hell as you say it is why are we bothering her? Am I right gentlemen? Who put us here? He did. Who do we hate? **

**Sweeney!**

At this all the ghosts marched toward Benjamin.

_This most certainly backfired. _

Benjamin felt them push and hit on him. He tried to push back but his hands went right through.

_What? How the heck can they push me?_

Benjamin held up his hands. He was getting nearer the grinder.

**Stop! What do you want from me? **

**Suffer! Suffer! **

**Stop. **

They all stopped and turned. There stood Mrs. Lovett wiping soot from her face.

**Yeah, and why? **

Mrs. Lovett sighed. It seemed she had nothing convincing to say on the matter.

But Benjamin did. A brilliant thought came to him. The truth.

**Haven't you ever thought you wanted something that it turned out you didn't later? Or…or tried not to do something you wanted to, but knew you shouldn't? Or wanted to do something, even if you couldn't? **

This struck most of the group. Benjamin knew he had them so he continued.

**You all deserved to die. So did she, and so did I. **

He pointed to Mrs. Lovett, and pointed to his own throat.

**This is not about that though. This is your chance to start again. **

_Even me. _

Many of the ghosts seemed to show approval of what Benjamin had said. A few of them disappeared into their bodies, and their bodies disappeared. Unfortunately there was still a great deal of them left. And they were unconvinced.

Before Benjamin had time to think, they were upon him again. Before he knew it he had be pushed to the ground and was now being dragged across the floor by his hands.

**No, please no!**

Benjamin had lost control of the situation, and had resorted to begging. It reminded him of his arrest 15 years ago.

He was now on the floor next to Mrs. Lovett. She was eyeing them cautiously. It wasn't until she started to back away, that some of them blocked her. Benjamin moaned seeing the only way out was in. The oven.

In they both went.

Benjamin screamed louder then he had in all his life. Or death for that matter as well. Mrs. Lovett was screaming too, and Benjamin saw her close her eyes. She then stood, seemingly unaffected.

_You failed. _

_Shut up!_

_Just close your eyes and get this over with, I will try next time. _

_No! I have got to get this right. _

_Suit yourself. _

Benjamin looked at Mrs. Lovett again. He wondered what Mrs. Lovett saw when she closed her eyes.

_Maybe you should ask her later._

Benjamin sighed and closed his eyes.


	9. For the cruelty of men is as wonderous

Chapter 9- For the cruelty of men is as wondrous as Peru.

_**Benjamin opened his eyes. Here again was Toby and Grace as he expected. It looked as though years had passed. Toby was taller, though not a good deal taller. This of course was probably due to the lack of good food here. Grace was beginning to fill out into a woman. Their names were still written on the side of the wall, but were very faded. But instead the walls were filled with letters, words and phrases. **_

_**Both were sleeping at the moment, and it was very cold, winter again it seemed. Benjamin enjoyed the cold however, seeing as it was a good deal different then the oven's excruciating heat. **_

_**They had one thin sheet between them, and were now sleeping next to each other under it to keep warm. **_

_**At that moment a guard banged on the door. "Wash Time! Get up!"**_

_**Grace opened her eyes first. She looked so weak. She nudged Toby. He opened his eyes. **_

_**They were bound and walked towards a room with drain holes in the floor. They were being followed by a great many other prisoners. They were all stone quiet. Silently they all began to strip. Soon the room was full of naked prisoners lining up against the walls. Benjamin looked away. Not before noticing that you could see the ribs of every one of the prisoners. **_

_**He shivered. Was this what Johanna had gone through? Johanna. Johanna! With sorrow, Benjamin realized this was his first though of her since he had died. He wondered if he could change what he was seeing when he closed his eyes. Maybe he could see her for the first time. **_

_**Moans from some of the prisoners, lead his thoughts back to Toby and Grace. Cold water was being splashed on them. **_

_**His eyes focused back on where Toby and Grace were standing. The guard that had ordered the wash was passing out bars of soap to the attendants who began soaping up people. There were no enough attendants to go around however. That didn't seem to upset the guards however. They were all too willing to wash the remaining females. **_

_**Grace bit her lip, as a guard was purposefully feeling her up. Her lip started to bleed and drip down into the water puddles below. **_

_**Benjamin watched Toby's eyes follow the blood from her mouth to the ground. Something inside him seemed to be brewing. **_

_**Grace suddenly opened her eyes and gave Toby a panicked look. **_

_**Benjamin recognized the look from before…and so did Toby. Toby shoved off his attendant. He struggled to push the guard off of her but to no avail. Toby was smaller and weaker, and fell to the stone floor. **_

_**And so did Grace. Shaking in violent convulsions she proceeded to beat her head against the stone floor causing blood to pour from a scalp wound. **_

_**All the other guards were either laughing or backed away in fear of the "devil's child," **_

_**The attendants were trying to keep the rest of the insane under control which was becoming increasing hard with no help. **_

_**Benjamin bit his own lip, it was becoming increasingly clear what was coming next. The guard pulled down his pants. **_

_**Benjamin was expecting to have to watch something he never hoped to see again, but instead…the guard peed on her. Benjamin suppressed a growl. **_

_**But Toby didn't. Toby roared and pounced. Biting the guard on the arm, he was whipped and punched but he clung on for as long as he could. But eventually he was flung off.**_

_**Grace was beginning to gain consciousness. She watched the chaos before trying to stop it. **_

"…_**st" "st" "Stop" "STOP!"**_

_**Everyone froze for a second. The guard was the first to move, and he walked back towards Grace. Toby bruised and bleeding stood up. Grabbing the guard's arm again, the guard was pulled off his balance and tripped on a discarded soap bar and fell to the floor with a thud. **_

_**Toby crawled out from under the guard's fallen form. Blood was pouring all over the floor and it was obvious that the guard was dying. **_

_**Benjamin sighed releasing the tension that had been building during the whole fight. Toby looked up and stared where Benjamin was standing, but it was clear he couldn't see him. **_

_**But he had felt the sigh somehow, and sighed back. **_

_**A dark demon had killed Sweeney Todd. But Sweeney Todd had killed Toby long before that. And now Toby had killed… **_

_**And like Sweeney knew already, one only felt alive if one was killing, but afterwards there was only death and darkness of the soul, each time worse then before. **_

Benjamin opened his eyes. Mrs. Lovett was staring at him, but she looked far away in thought.

Suddenly the oven door opened.

And the bake house was empty.

Benjamin stepped out. Mrs. Lovett followed.

_I am a miserable person. _

_Congratulations on that amazing discovery. _Sweeney quipped back out of the blue.

Mrs. Lovett sighed. Benjamin turned to look at her. She was sitting down on the floor of the bake house, her knees pulled towards her chest and her head to the ground.

Benjamin stood there not sure what to do. Luckily Sweeney did. Sweeney walked towards her and sat down next to her.

**Go Away.**

Sweeney snorted.

**If there was a door out of here, I think Benjamin would have fled long ago. **

This was exactly what Mrs. Lovett needed to hear in order to actually speak to him, because now her confusion and curiosity were stronger then her resentment.

**Benjamin? Not Sweeney? Or are you so insane you are now talking about yourself? **

Benjamin sighed. He seemed to be doing that a lot recently. What was Sweeney up to?

**If I were to act as though we were the same person, it would be more accurate, but of course that would be too easy. **

Mrs. Lovett noticed that there was no door out, not even the floor trapdoor. Suddenly she felt worse then in the oven. The oven was horrible to feel over and over again, but being stuck here with the man, who killed her by throwing her in the oven, maybe for the rest of eternity, seemed much worse.

**Why?**

Sweeney was thrown aback. He had not expected this. Benjamin smiled. He took over.

**Why what? Why I threw you in? **

Mrs. Lovett turned to look him straight in the eyes. Benjamin took that as a yes.

**Because you and I had become worse then anybody else we had killed and fed to the unsuspecting public. We deserved to die in our own fashions. **

Sweeney smiled. He agreed.

_Really? You agree?_

_Just because I didn't support the practically suicidal move towards death, doesn't mean I didn't think it was deserved. _

Mrs. Lovett seemed at a loss for what to say to such a proclamation. She had agreed with Sweeney Todd in life, that the whole world deserved to die, even including herself. That didn't mean that she had wanted to die, or that she had suspected that she would be killed in that moment.

Defeated, she changed the topic of conversation. To something that they both wanted to know.

**Do you see them when you close your eyes?**

Benjamin swallowed.

**Them? Do you see them too?**

**Yes, isn't it awful? How badly we screwed things up. **

They were not to discover anytime soon however, that they were not talking about the same two people.


	10. Wanders tormented and drinks

Chapter 10 – She wanders, tormented and drinks, poor thing.

They were interrupted however from discussing the matter further, because the trapdoor in the floor suddenly appeared at that moment.

**What do you suppose we need to go down there for?**

Mrs. Lovett walked towards the open trapdoor and peered in. Benjamin followed.

**Guess we'll have to find out, won't we? Don't suppose it would be more exciting to stay in here. **

Benjamin just let her babble as usual, and just nodded in reply.

They walked down into the darkness of the passageway. Mrs. Lovett led the way, but nothing to light the way she had trouble with tripping, and occasionally Benjamin would hear her squeak, and would make a high stepping motion so as to attempt to miss whatever she was tripping on.

It wasn't long before they heard moaning. Someone else was clearly down here.

**Hello?**

Mrs. Lovett took the initiative.

There was no reply, but the moaning stopped.

**Hello? **

This time Benjamin called out. They both began to walk closer the small light in the distance.

It soon became clear that the light was coming from a single lantern which showed a figure that was stooped over.

With dread, Benjamin knew whose area they had entered. He stopped walking, and Mrs. Lovett turned to look at him funny. But when in the dim glow of the light, she saw the look on his face; she too realized what was holding him back.

_Lucy. _

_Well, you are going to have to face her sooner or later. _

_What would I say? Hi, I was so bent on revenge for your supposed death that I failed to verify my sources, and ignored your attempts to reach me, and killed you with the blades you bought me for a wedding gift. That would go over well. _

_So would saying nothing, or ignoring her. Talk to her, anything. _

_Suppose she has still lost her mind, what if she babbles, what if she makes no sense. _

_Then you have lost nothing by talking to her, since it won't register much for her anyway. _

Benjamin took a deep breath. He began to walk again, and Mrs. Lovett followed behind him.

Lucy looked exactly as she had when he held her in his arms in the bake house, the blood just drying on her clothes. Only she could look back at him this time. Which she did.

It seemed to Mrs. Lovett to be an eternity before one of them dared to speak. And the first person was not Benjamin.

**Took you long enough to get here. State of mind of course, not the place. Funny how I am stuck here in the deep dark tunnels of your insanity, with a single lantern. **

Benjamin was confused. This was not what he had expected of her at all. Her appearance had changed that was obvious, but he had not expected… was she being cynical, or not? Her tone wasn't a clear indicator.

**You could change this you know. Or this how you really saw me, a far obscure light of an idea in the back of your mind? **

Her voice was sad and pleading almost. Benjamin opened his mouth to reply, but he closed it when he realized he had nothing intelligent to say in response.

**I was just a good looking idea wasn't I? A pretty woman, who did her womanly duties and doted on you according to expectations. **

Mrs. Lovett tried to say something in response to that, but she was cut off.

**Did I ask you a question Nellie? Don't you try to defend him either. If I want your opinion I will ask. **

Mrs. Lovett hung her head. Benjamin rose to protest such un-Lucy like treatment of anyone. Especially their neighbor, whom she used to talk to all the time holding friendly conversations.

**What has come over you, treating her like that? **

Lucy laughed a smug sort of laugh.

**You are the one to talk. You have been treating her the same way since you came back. Actually you sort of have been treating her the exact same way you always have, just a little less polite, and less cheerful. **

This was the sad, honest truth Benjamin realized, so he ignored it, and changed to focus back to Lucy.

**It is just so unlike you, Lucy. **

**What is? How would you even know? You aren't the only person who has changed a great deal around here. Sweeney Todd. Funny. I'm sure your old friends would not appreciate their names being remembered with such a dark legacy. **

**So I wasn't creative, what does it matter? At least Jack Sweeney is already dead anyway. And Todd, I don't even know where he is living, he could be dead too for all I know. **

Here was the longest pause since they had started talking.

_But you wouldn't know, because you never searched him out. _

_That was not what we were here to do. _

Sweeney couldn't respond to this because Mrs. Lovett had spoken up.

**Couldn't we get out of this tunnel? This place is giving me the creeps and it smells something foul. **

**It is a long walk. And I have the lantern. **

**What are you not coming with us?**

Benjamin was surprised at this.

**I have no reason to. **

**But you're my wife… and I finally found…**

Benjamin was cut off.

**See! You said wife, not 'but I love you.' **

**But…I do love you. I always have. Why do you think I came back?**

**You came back for revenge. You never really loved me. You loved the idea of me. You came back to hopefully be reunited with the idea of me, and you… killed, for the idea of me. But really it was all about you. It always was. **

Benjamin was at a lost to oppose such a statement. So he tried rationalizing.

**I killed because I loved you. You deserved to have justice. **

Lucy frowned.

**How is death justice? It is not how you died that matters, but how you lived. Unfortunately that is why I am here. Because you see, you and I really were more similar then I imagined. What kind of mother tries to end her life, because she feels it should be over? I thought only of myself. If I had been a good mother, I would have thought of Johanna first. She deserved better. **

There was a very pregnant pause. The air itched with tension.

Mrs. Lovett felt the need to interrupt.

**If you had loved her… not just the idea of her, you would have done anything for her. Everything you did would be in her best interest, she would come before any thought of yourself. **

There was a small damp silence. Lucy smiled and nodded.

Benjamin stood stunned that she didn't cut her off this time, but had cut off him.

**You seem very knowledgeable on such a subject. **

Benjamin spit back acidly.

Mrs. Lovett hung her head again.

Lucy jumped to her defense.

**A woman always knows best what she knows she deserved, but never got. **

Mrs. Lovett looked up and smiled at Lucy thankfully.

Benjamin tried to remember what little he knew about Mr. Lovett. He sadly admitted to himself in that moment, that he knew as little about Mrs. Lovett's late husband and her past in general, as he did about his wife now.

_Lucy. Not wife. _

Benjamin mentally corrected himself. All at once, Benjamin sadly came to see the truth in Mrs. Lovett's statement. He was so happy once, he had had a beautiful wife and daughter, and a thriving business.

It really had always been about him. He had failed Lucy as a husband and Johanna as a father, even before he had ever left. Benjamin hung his head in sorrow.

**I'm sorry I could never be that kind of husband for you. **

Lucy smiled broadly, and her teeth seemed cleaner and straighter, and… yes, she seemed for a moment to look exactly as she had on the day that Benjamin had first met her. Except for the eyes. They still held a lifetime of sadness in them.

**I'm sorry too. **

And with that the light of the lantern went out for only a moment. But when it flashed back on, they were no longer in the tunnels, but back in the bake house. And the trapdoor was gone. But the door out of the bake house wasn't. In fact it was open.


	11. City on Fire

Sorry these are taking so long. School work as been delaying progress, plus these past two chapters I have re-written so many times due to my frustration at being able to portray what I want/see in my head.

Please review honestly.

Chapter 11- City on Fire

**Do you think you'll see her again?**

Mrs. Lovett finally broke the silence.

**No.**

This was the truth, Benjamin knew it. Hell seemed to make since now, things opening and closing as doors, but also as wounds to the heart. The more doors he closed, the more wounds he opened.

_But are they worth opening?_

_Still around Sweeney? _

_If you are so am I. You know that. _

Mrs. Lovett looked anxiously around the bake house like a racehorse at the starting gate.

**Well, I for one am leaving. I'm not sticking around in this place any longer then I have to. **

Benjamin followed her out. Mrs. Lovett turned to him as they crossed the threshold into the street, looking surprised.

**You're coming?**

**If you are going somewhere interesting. **

Mrs. Lovett wasn't sure how to respond. Where was she going after all? Benjamin smiled. She was just trying to get rid of him.

**You don't have anyplace in mind, do you?**

**Sure I do. I… um, I am going to look for my husband. **

**Would he be down here?**

Mrs. Lovett laughed cynically.

**Just as much the next man around here. **

Benjamin recalled faintly, that he had heard a lot of yelling from below, many years back.

**What was he like?**

Mrs. Lovett froze. She was taken aback. She was certain that claiming that she was searching for her husband would have deterred him from coming with her. She had just about had it with him. He had never paid her any real interest, and probably never would.

But here he was asking questions.

**Uh… well, he was quite the butcher. And a great cook I might add, he could make anything taste good. Unlike myself. That is really the thing I guess I miss the most, after 8-9 years or so of crummy food. **

Benjamin wondered why they had gotten married even, if his food was his best quality as a husband.

**How'd you meet him?**

**Through a friend who knew I needed a good, strong, sensible guy to marry before my father died. Doesn't do a girl any good with no one to support her. **

**So a marriage of necessity?**

Mrs. Lovett didn't want to talk about her husband.

**Why the sudden interest? Why do you care?**

Benjamin paused. Why did he care?

**Shouldn't I?**

**Do you always do things because you aught to? **

**Isn't that why everyone does certain things?**

**No. You are supposed to do things because you care. **

**But I do care. **

**About the facts, or about me?**

Benjamin couldn't seriously answer that question. So he wasn't sure what to say. Luckily for him or unluckily, he didn't have to respond,because at that very moment, Judge Turpin came around the block again, and had spotted him.

**Benjamin Barker!**

Benjamin turned to see the Judge running towards him. He turned to run away.

_Stupid, coward, you can't ignore him. He'll always be around here somewhere. _

Benjamin sighed and came to a halt. Judge Turpin had mysteriously gained on him enough that Benjamin's abrupt stop made the Judge collide into Benjamin's backside. Benjamin fell to the ground. Judge Turpin began beating him with his stick.

**You killed me, you bastard. You killed me, murderous scum. **

Benjamin tried to wiggle away, and the Judge grabbed his arm. And in that moment Benjamin closed his eyes.

_**It was not Toby whom Benjamin saw like he expected. It was an entirely different cell. This one was full of men, women and children. He scanned the room looking for people he knew. Why was he here? Is this what the Judge saw?**_

"_**Speaking of me. I'm right here." **_

_**Benjamin turned his head, and behind him stood the Judge. **_

"_**You… you can hear my thoughts?" Benjamin thought to himself. **_

"_**Yes." The Judge's lips didn't move but Benjamin clearly heard yes. **_

"_**Where are we?" **_

"_**Look closely, you and I know the twit in the corner."**_

_**Benjamin looked, and in the corner facing the walls was… the sailor. Anthony. Benjamin scanned the room for Johanna but it was soon clear she wasn't there. **_

_**Debtor's jail. **_

"_**Disruption of the peace. Fined more then he makes in a year." **_

_**Benjamin shivered. The sailor would never get out. He studied the sailor boy. It was clear many years had already passed in this cell. Maybe 5 or 6. It was hard to tell. But it was clear that the once bright and optimistic boy had become a lonely, melancholic man. **_

"_**Calling on a Mr. Anthony Hope." Someone was yelling through the cell bars on the door. **_

_**Anthony didn't even turn his head. **_

"_**Letter for Mr. Hope." **_

_**Anthony slowly got up, and took the letter through the space between the bars. He went back to his corner and opened it. **_

_**Benjamin walked closer, so he could read the letter over his shoulder. **_

_**It read:**_

_**Dear Mr. Anthony Hope,**_

_**I am saddened to inform you of your mother's passing. Your father has been notified and will be coming to bail you out so that you may attend the funeral in three days time. He feels that you have learned your lesson by now. After that he will request that you pay him back by living with him until you are **__**properly**__** married in the future. He has heard about your attempt to elope, and he will have none of that. It would do you well to heed all of your father's requests; he would probably send you away with nothing. I'm sure he will make his first requests clear when he arrives, but I feel the need to warn you of a few ahead of time. 1. You will take his family name, not the one you made up on your own. 2. You will not be a sailor, you will be trained to be a gentleman. And 3. …**_

_**Benjamin never got to read the rest, because at that moment, Anthony balled up the letter and threw it at the wall. **_

_**Some of the people in the cell stared for a moment, but eventually they went back to talking amongst themselves. **_

_**Benjamin stood there for a long time just watching him. He had forgotten the Judge was still there with him. He reached out his hand towards the boy and put his hand as close to his shoulder as he could. **_

"_**I'm sorry. You just reminded me of well… me. I tried to show you the world was cruel, but I think you already knew that… I told you to stay away."**_

_**Anthony shivered. **_

"_**Let's go." **_

_**Benjamin jumped. Judge Turpin looked peeved, but Benjamin thought perhaps this was because he hated having to watch this. **_

_**Apparently Judge Turpin could hear that too. **_

"_**He deserved to know that he was no better then anyone else. Him and his fancy romantic airs, and impossible dreams. These do not make him a man." **_

_**Benjamin jumped to his defense. "But he could have become better then anyone else. He had risen above the cruelty of men, because he believed he could." **_

"_**You are deluding yourself, Benjamin Barker. True, he is a lot like you were stubborn, naïve, and a hopeless romantic. But every person has a dark side, even this rift- raft of a sailor. He resents you, he resents his father, you're just lucky that you're not still alive. I have seen the way this boy treats his father. The man doesn't have to take him in; he doesn't have to openly admit such a mistake."**_

"_**He's out of wedlock?"**_

_**Judge Turpin glared slightly. "Seems that the lack of decent communication was mutual between the two of you." **_

_**Benjamin paused and thought about what he actually knew about the sailor boy. He knew his name or his made-up last name at least it seemed. He knew his ship, his status, where he had sailed to, and that he fell in love with Johanna. **_

_**Nothing much really. In fact he knew as much about the sailor boy that had helped safe his life, as he did about Johanna.**_

_**Benjamin had wanted to rescue her. The stupid boy couldn't even describe her hair color. He wanted to marry her after having just met her. **_

"_**Really does sound like you, doesn't it?" Sweeney mockingly laughed at Benjamin. **_

_**Benjamin recalled a young spirited version of himself, declaring to his friend Jack the first time he laid eyes on Lucy, that they were fated to be married. Within a month or so this statement had become a reality. **_

_**Sweeney had convinced the boy to bring her to the shop, as pawn in the game towards the final destruction of Judge Turpin once and for all. But it was Benjamin who didn't stop him from bringing her there, because he wished he could distance the two. After all such a start in a relationship had done him little good. **_

"_**We managed to break them up it seems, without even trying hard really." Benjamin had to agree with Sweeney. "It would never have worked out for the best." **_

"_**It seems then we are in agreement about something." The Judge spoke up for the first time in awhile, making Benjamin shiver. Could he think nothing without the Judge hearing? **_

"_**Unfortunately, I don't anything would have worked out in Johanna's favor."**_

"_**With me she would have been safe."**_

"_**But unhappy." Benjamin replied caustically.**_

"_**He was the only thing that ever made her really smile. I…I wanted to make her smile. I wanted to be the one she wanted. She was everything I had, everything I wanted…" Judge Turpin was almost boiling over with emotion. **_

_**Benjamin shivered in disgust, glad it seemed for the first time that Judge Turpin was fated to see Anthony and not Johanna, even if that meant not seeing her. **_

_**There was silence. **_

_**Benjamin did want to know so badly about what she was like. And so did the Judge, who thought that Benjamin could see her. **_

_**But a wall of bitter and painful pride separated the two men whom had made each other, their own worst enemies. And interestingly enough that was what was keeping Johanna as safe and as happy as she possibly could be, given the circumstances. **_


	12. You have to concede it

Back again…school has been making me crazy…I am preparing for a recital. A little review goes a long way however, since I wrote this chapter today because I got a review, for the first time in over a month. Yeah! I have not been forgotten.

Chapter 12- You have to concede it

Mrs. Lovett flinched every time Judge Turpin's cane hit Benjamin. But what had disturbed her the most, was the way he took it all, barely even trying to protect himself or even escape. Every time Nellie tried to understand what went on in his head, she ended up with a headache. Why she ever bothered anymore, he hadn't been right in the head since he had been dragged away that dreary night. She had let him live above her, with full knowing of his murderous plans. Ah well, better the devil you know then the devil you don't know.

_Lucy called me the devil's wife..._

How right she was.  
  
She thought back to one of the first things he had said to her since they had arrived in this god- forsaken place. Was he Sweeney Todd here? Or was he Benjamin Barker? Or neither? Or both? Mrs. Lovett wasn't quite sure. 

When he had closed his eyes, and both of them seemed to freeze in place, Judge Turpin half fallen over him, Nellie knew that they had gone where she had been going every time she closed her eyes. Or at least somewhere similar. She had no reason to assume that they saw Johanna. In fact that would probably have caused more problems then solutions. 

The moment that they came back, they both finished their actions there were in motion beforehand and Judge Turpin was nearly laying on top of Benjamin. He immediately picked himself up, and brushed himself off. Benjamin moaned, all the pain of the beatings coming back to him. Judge Turpin tipped back his foot, poised ready to give him, what looked to be a final kick.   
But his hesitation was evident. He withdrew it slowly, to Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett's surprise. Snorting through his nostrils, the Judge turned swiftly and walked away, not looking back. 

Nellie approached Benjamin. 

**What the hell was that about?**

Benjamin just sighed and started to get up. 

**A civil question deserves a civil answer.**

At this Benjamin gave a weak laugh. There was Mrs. Lovett trying so hard to keep up pretences. 

**I think any question with Hell in it, no longer can be classified as 'civil'.**

Mrs. Lovett frowned. Benjamin watched as she took a deep breath, knowing that he had upset her one too many times, and braced himself for the explosion.

**I bloody hate your guts, Mr. Todd! Everytime I try to understand you, I get a headache. I have tried for so long to appease you, to support you. I sacrificed my life, and my sanity, for what?  
**  
He had been waiting for this. He lowered his head to look at her straight in the eyes for the first time, since he had gotten here. 

This clearly unnerved Mrs. Lovett, so he knew he could go forward. 

**You don't hate me. You never have and you never will. **

W...well I bloody do hate you now!

No, you don't. Only half the truth, is a whole lie, Nellie. And lies are what got you killed.

Mrs. Lovett flinched. Neither Benjamin, nor Sweeney Todd had ever called her Nellie before. It was always the polite form, never was he informal.  
What was he up to? Or was he up to anything at all?

She was already dead. What more could he do to her?

Mrs. Lovett shuddered to think, and lowered her eyes. Benjamin continued.

**You can pretend all you want, that I don't understand, that I am some sort of crazed maniac, who doesn't know love if it hit him in the face. But that would be another lie, Mrs. Lovett. That would be another lie. **

Benjamin paused to collect his thoughts, but not too long. 15 years ago he had wanted to say these things, and now only in death was he finally sure that he could. **  
**  
He stood up, and grabbed Mrs.Lovett's chin, and forced her to look at him. She was scared. Benjamin gave her the nicest smile he could manage, before continuing. 

**I know that you love me, and that you always have. **

He waited for those words to settle uncomfortably.   
**  
You would not have done those things for me, had you not. **

Mrs. Lovett could sense that she was not going to like the next upcoming statement.

**You wanted a Man, a romantic partner, an man who would love you for you, unconditionally. ... I will never be that man for you, and I never could have been. **

Nellie looked him again, sorrowfully. He had finally said it. What she had known from day 1 was true, no matter how she tried to reason with herself, that all he needed was time to come around. But she wanted to know why. 

**Why?**

This took Benjamin by surprise. He was sure she would accept this and leave sadly. 

_Because you can't love. Sure you've been attracted to women and doted on them with such passion, and grace. But passion is not love. They can go together, but it not a requirement. Love is about sacrifice. You were willing to sacrifice things for an idea, not a woman. _

Benjamin reflected on Sweeney's comment. 

He looked back down at Nellie. Which was the wrong thing to do. Since it put their faces eerily close together. And before he could connect two brain cells, the passion that was just naturally part of his personality; with no revenge, no wife, and no constructive place to channel it; took over. 

He bend down and kissed her. 

And naturally without thinking, they both closed their eyes. 

_**Mrs.Lovett was the first to notice that they had changed location. And she quickly made Benjamin aware, by slapping him across the face. **_

Benjamin quickly backed off.

"I'm... sorry...uh.. I deserved that."

Mrs. Lovett swore. She had let him kiss her, the one thing she had longed for as long she could remember. But not like that. Not after what he just said. And now considering where they were now, she had closed her eyes first. Mrs. Lovett had no time to mentally berate herself any longer,for Benjamin had turned her around to face the interior of the room they had just discovered they were in. 

If it could be called a room.

It was more like a space, filled with heaps of dirty clothes. 

Benjamin had no idea where they were, but it hardly looked like London. The clothes styles didn't match. Then again, many years could have passed. But Mrs. Lovett swore again, so he assumed she knew.

"She closed her eyes first."Sweeney smiled to himself.  
"Shut, up!"

Why oh why, had he kissed her? Why couldn't he have contained himself? No need to torment her anymore then she was tormented already. 

"You mean anymore then you tormented her already, I'm sure." Sweeney commented. 

Benjamin didn't respond, he had just realized they were not alone. 

Noises were coming out of the piles of clothes. 

A very drunk, handsome man, emerged from the pile and pulled on a pair of pants. 

"For..being..called the..Ice Queen, ...you sure create...quite...a heat." He laughed awkwardly.

"That's my heart that is ice, not my pussy, stupid."

In that moment, everything that Benjamin had hoped, was shattered. He knew. The women still out of view in the pile of clothes... was Johanna. 

And this was verified, when the man bent down and pulled her out of the pile, dress askew. She had her mother's figure, ivory skin and beautiful wheat colored hair. 

Her dress was pale blue, and was beaded with the most intriguing glass beads. She looked like an Ice Queen. She turned to face the wall, and unknowingly, Benjamin and Mrs. Lovett. The man began to help her fasten the back of her dress. She raised her head, and took one final deep breath before he cinched up the last part of her dress. Johanna's eyes stared at the wall glazed, and Benjamin looked back into them. 

They were blue, and icy, and yet with a deep blue flame that lingered in the background. 

Benjamin Barker felt as though he had found himself gazing into a looking-glass. She had his eyes. 

It was the boy. The sailor boy, who had escaped from the chair.

"Oh, my God." "Oh my God" "I almost killed you too."

Benjamin reached out a hand to touch her.

And for the first time in his entire life, with no one to be angry at but himself, a single tear fell from his eyes. 

"Let's go back to the party, shall we?" 

"You go first, it will be talked about if you and I go back at the same time. I will head downstairs in a bit." 

The man nodded, and left the closet. 

Johanna sat down on the pile of clothes, and stared at the floor. 

She took the pin from her dress, and slipped off the glove on one hand. There were about ten short scar marks in a row, and she took her pin and drew blood, creating a new mark. 

She stared at it, as did Benjamin and Nellie, with bizarre fascination and disgust. 

And then she began to sob inconsolably. 

"You fool." Mrs. Lovett mumbled. 

Benjamin sat down next to her and put his arms as close around her as he was allowed, and held his beautiful, miserable, little man-made monster. 

****

  
****


	13. Teach me to be more adaptive

Chapter 13 Teach me to be more adaptive

Chapter 13 Teach me to be more adaptive.

_**Johanna however did not stay sitting for long. As soon as the bleeding had stopped, she stood and put her glove back on. She began to rummage through the clothes. Benjamin just watched her with uneasiness. Johanna found what she was looking for, which happened to be a fist full of...what looked to be chest hair, or not.**_

"Oh, you horrible girl!" Mrs. Lovett exclaimed. Benjamin turned to scowl, but the look on Mrs. Lovett's face was enough to make him raise a questioning eyebrow.

Mrs. Lovett seemed to anxiously follow her, as Johanna placed the hair into...Benjamin stood in shock. It was the reticule that he had gotten for Lucy as a gift, at one point.

"Don't do it!" She tried to whisper in Johanna's ear.

"Do what?" Benjamin asked curiously.

" Bring down the man." Sweeney murmured. "Let's see rich man, has sex without being married, doesn't want to be seen with her, and is at a large party in which he is the host..."

Benjamin nodded, understandingly. "His engagement party."

True enough, it did appear to be an engagement party, as Benjamin and Mrs. Lovett followed Johanna downstairs back to the party. She walked straight to an elegantly dressed older woman positioned at the edge of the crowd.

"You were right..." Johanna smiled in a manner that almost evil and possessed looking. "He falls fast...he is unsuitable for your daughter."

The woman smiled wily. "Have you proof?"

Johanna pulled out the reticule, opened it and lifted some of the hair out to show her.

The woman gasped slightly, before smiling wickedly.

"You, my dear are good."

Johanna seemed uncomfortable for the first time during the course of the discussion.

"When shall I receive the agreed amount?"

"After the public humiliation at church tomorrow, when I shall dissolve these marriage of bonds. It will be delivered to you by one of my messenger boys."

Johanna seemed wary still. "And if I do not receive it?"

"I shall flog my messenger boy myself." She looked like the devil herself when she said this.

Johanna was still unsettled by this. But she nodded graciously and turned and walked away, grabbing a goblet of wine, before walking out of the room and swallowing it in one swift motion. She then walked out of the house.

Benjamin was hesitant to follow her, and was surprised that Mrs. Lovett grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the street.

There Johanna was getting into her carriage.

"Shh..." Mrs. Lovett hushed him before Benjamin could even voice a protest.

She handed her driver a slip of paper that she pulled from the piece of paper that she had pulled from inside her dress.

"Take me there please."

The driver stood awkwardly for a moment and handed it back. "I...I cannot..."

"And why not?" Johanna looked up at him for the first time and really paid attention to him, now that she was annoyed.

He was dark skinned, with almost black eyes, and tall and large in stature. Everything was the exact opposite of her appearance. Except for the dark sorrowful look now gracing his features.

_**Johanna's anger dissolved immediately. **_

_**"You...you cannot read?"**_

_**"No, miss." He looked at the ground. **_

_**A look passed over Johanna's face that Benjamin could not interpret. **_

_**Mrs. Lovett however had leaned over to her ear. Benjamin could not hear what she had said, but it seemed to make Johanna stand a bit straighter. **_

_**"The paper says **__**Kiery Lane**__**. You know where that is?"**_

_**"Yes, miss."**_

_**She climbed inside. Mrs. Lovett sighed and stepped in as well. "You can do better then that deary" She said, as Benjamin reluctantly followed. If he hadn't been dead, he would have wondered if he was coming down ill. **_

_**When they had silently reached their destination, Johanna began to go through her reticule for money. She had enough money to pay the cabbie, but she closed it without getting anything out. **_

_**Mrs. Lovett and Benjamin exited the cab behind her, and watched as she came around to the driver. **_

_**"What is your name, sir?"**_

_**"Peter, after Simon Peter the disciple."**_

_**Johanna nodded. "I... seem to be short for your payment, I am going to go inside and get the proper amount." She seemed to almost stutter, but it did not seem to be because she was nervous about lying. **_

_**Johanna went into the house that both Benjamin and Mrs. Lovett, knew was once the home of Judge Turpin. Mrs. Lovett tried to follow behind her as she went into the house, but she couldn't open the door. **_

_**Mrs. Lovett swore. "One of these days, I hope to get in there." Benjamin nodded, knowing all too well the concept of locked doors around here. The door would open for them, when it needed to be opened. **_

_**Johanna reemerged. In her hand was a piece of paper and the money. She stood there as she waited for the driver, Peter, to open the paper. **_

_**He hesitated, but opened it. Benjamin and Mrs. Lovett could both see that it contained one word. "Peter"**_

_**"That is how you spell your name." **_

_**Peter looked up not sure how to respond. **_

_**"You may keep it."**_

_**Mrs. Lovett was now beaming. **_

_**"Goodnight, miss, my work here is done."**_

_**Johanna smiled slightly. **_

_**"Call me Johanna."**_

_**And Peter nodded, and turned to climb back into his seat. **_

They were soon back on the corner. Benjamin's head was still swimming. Johanna...he had almost killed her. And because he hadn't...he had left her in a life of ruin.

What had Mrs. Lovett said to her? To make her help the driver learn to read... even if it was just his name.

Benjamin turned to look for Mrs. Lovett, but she was already walking away.

"Where are you going?" was what came out instead of his original question.

"Leaving you behind." she replied curtly. She was obviously still peeved.

_You did kiss her, after claiming you could never be what she needed. _

_I know. I'm not claiming that she shouldn't leave. ...I just don't want her to. _

_Hmm..._

_What?_

_Nothing._

"Wait. Look I know you are mad at me, but ...now that I know about ...there is someone I can show you."

Mrs. Lovett turned.

"Who?"

"Who do you want to know about?"

Mrs. Lovett understood.

"But we are not kissing."

"Of course not, never again."

Oddly enough this did not seem to comfort Mrs. Lovett.

Benjamin held out his hand to her. Mrs. Lovett looked at it as though she was studying it, trying to determine whether she wanted to touch it.

But she finally put her hand in his open palm. They just stood there for a few seconds, thinking about the social implications of such a move.

"You have to close your eyes first." Mrs. Lovett broke the silence irritated.

"Right."

Benjamin closed his eyes.

--

just for random knowledge sake... only married people were allowed to connect palms. If you were leading a female whom you were not married to anywhere, you had to guide her with your palm on the tops of her hands.


	14. That'll do the trick, sir

Chapter 14- That'll do the trick, sir

Chapter 14- That'll do the trick, sir.

_**Benjamin was confused at first as to where they were. It had obviously been awhile since he had been here, in Toby's life, and a lot had changed. **_

_**They seemed to be in some sort of office, most probably someone in the government. The door opened behind Benjamin and Mrs. Lovett, and in walked in Toby handcuffed, flanked by two guards. The man in the chair turned around to face him. Mrs. Lovett stood next him, obviously distressed over Toby's condition, even though Toby seemed to be relaxed and calm. **_

_**"Well, Mr. Ragg, the day has come. What to do with you?" The man however looked for no response from Toby and continued as though he was alone and pondering all this to himself. **_

_**"What to do with a man, who as a boy had done so many bad things? Who is no longer a boy, and can not therefore be kept in a youth asylum. Should we transfer you? Should we let you go with a warning? After all the last few years show a good record, and we like to see improvement." **_

_**Toby did not even acknowledge the man. **_

_**So the man continued, "Let us give a run down of what your record says, maybe that will help us decide what do with you."**_

_**The man pulled out a file on his desk, and began reading off the first page. "Name, Tobias Ragg, Age, 18, age at internment, 12. Charge(s), murder, and assault. Details: …oh my." **_

_**The man stopped and looked slightly paler then before. However he started up again trying to regain composure and control the situation. **_

_**"May I ask a question of you?" **_

_**Toby looked up, and stared at the man, before muttering 'yes'. **_

_**"What is your relation to the man known far and wide, as Sweeney Todd?"**_

_**Toby looked out the window as he replied. "Shouldn't you be asking why I killed him?" **_

"_**I think we can safely assume the reason for that. If all the rumors are true, I think anyone in their right mind would have done so." The man laughed uncertainly.**_

_**Benjamin looked at the ground and muttered, "Agreed." Mrs. Lovett heard and looked over sympathetically, but Benjamin didn't notice, he was looking at Toby. **_

"_**In their right mind…hmmm." Toby seemed to muse out loud, and the man began to look even more uncomfortable. **_

"_**You did not answer my question." **_

"_**My… relationship… was merely of avoidance. I was greatly afraid of him."**_

_**The man seemed to relax as though this statement made Toby more sane. **_

"_**So…then why did you kill him?" He asked looking as though he was merely amused. **_

"_**Because he was evil, and he killed her."**_

"_**Who?" **_

"_**Mum" Mrs. Lovett made a choking sound and Benjamin reached out to touch her and then thought the better of it. **_

"_**Your mother?"**_

"_**No"**_

_**  
"Then…"**_

"_**She loved him, but he didn't love her back…he made her do it…all those pies…he made her do it…because he knew… he knew that she would do it… cause she loved him." Toby kept pausing to maintain his calm composure, but by the end of this statement his low voice had cracked and he was clenching his fists. **_

_**Benjamin shuddered. He hadn't seen it that way… and she was the one who had come up with plan in the first place. Of course how would Toby know that. How long this boy had held on to this hatred and the fear, of course the fear…**_

_**He bent down next to Toby and whispered in his ear. "You deserved a lot more then you were given in life…most children do." **_

_**Toby visibly relaxed. Benjamin continued. "Children have many irrational fears, and you have one too. Not of me, I see that as rational. After all I…fear myself, why shouldn't you?" **_

_**Neither Benjamin nor Mrs. Lovett or even Toby was listening now to the continued ramblings of the man in the chair. **_

"_**You…are not me…nor will you ever be…this you must not fear. I saw you with Grace, and I saw you with Mrs. Lovett, you are a protector…a guardian…not a vengeful man…a selfless, loving kid…just like I used to be…" Benjamin stumbled over these last words and Toby flinched in his chair. **_

"_**You deserve to be free Toby, free of me! Protect others with the rest of your life, prove to the world that Love overcomes everything… something that…well I don't know if I believe, but it is a message that deserves to be heard…it deserves a lot, just like you." Benjamin was breathing hard at this moment and so was Toby. **_

_**And Toby spoke out loud, "A policeman!, or a doctor, or a priest…a little priest…" Toby began to pale again, as though something had just clicked in his head. He took a deep breath and looked the very confused man in the eyes. **_

"_**I am good at something."**_

"_**Well, that's…a grand thing…considering every man needs a profession, direction…" He trailed off. **_

"_**A priest…"Toby seemed to falter again. **_

_**Benjamin bent down again blinking tears from his eyes. He cracked an honest smile, something he hadn't done since, that night in the bakehouse…**_

"_**As long as your sermons aren't boring or too long…" **_

_**Toby suddenly beamed. **_

"_**Well, the seminary might not take you on as a priest, but I am sure they would take good care of you, and you might even learn a thing or too…yes, that seems a good fit for a spiritually damaged youth, life at a church… yes, yes, brilliant…" **_

_**The man trailed off and began to write a letter, and…**_

They were back. Standing right in front of the pie shop, which was not where they had left off.

There was a long moment of silence that seemed to last for hours, before either of them spoke.

Nellie spoke first, "Do you think that things can catch on fire here?"

Benjamin was taken aback. "Why?"

Nellie turned with tears in her eyes. "Cause I want to be free too."

Sweeney spoke up inside his head, "Don't we all"

Benjamin nodded.

The building instantly set on fire. Nellie turned around in surprise and she stood next to him looking out at the place burning down, not realizing that it had been burnt down physically many years before.

When the building had burnt to the ground, Nellie turned back around to look at Benjamin. She looked no younger then the day that Benjamin had first met her when she and her new husband rented the upstairs to him and his new wife.

She was beautiful and she was fading just as Lucy had. He reached out to touch her face, but she was gone. And Benjamin felt this loss much more.


	15. And it goes by the name

Chapter 15

And it goes by the name

What else did he have to fix? Why didn't he leave with her, why was he still here?

Benjamin picked up a handful of the ashes which was now all that was left of the place had held more emotions then he thought possible when he had first rented it.

Toby was going down the right path, and now that Nellie was gone, he could no longer see Johanna, and…

Anthony, and more importantly, the Judge. He was going to have to come to terms with that man, that man that he had destroyed his life to destroy. But only because he had destroyed his life. The ground that the Judge walked on was only as high as the people that he stood upon. Just as Benjamin now realized that the ground that he stood on when he came back to London, was only as high as the people's lives that he had ended.

"**We really were birds of a feather you know…willing to do what ever we had to, to get what we wanted." **

Benjamin jumped. He turned at the sound of the Judge's voice, and saw he was standing across the street propped against the wall of the nearest building, looking calm and relaxed, quite the opposite of Benjamin's torn emotions.

_There he is the vile man, so calm and untormented. I wish he would just go to Hell._

_Right wish more evil on him, that looks real good on your record. You'll be getting us out of here soon. _

_That sounds better; let's do stuff just to get out of here. I don't think that counts if we are just doing anything because we should. _

…_Fine then we can wait till your daughter's grandchildren have died before we come to any conclusions about what we should be doing as opposed to what we want to be doing. _

Benjamin looked up; the Judge was still there flexing his fingers on the handle of his cane. He seemed to be unsurprised and unbothered that Benjamin hadn't replied to his statement.

_I don't want to make peace with him; I just want to fix the trouble I caused… I just want to see Anthony again. _

_That is a start._

"**What have you been up to?"** Benjamin responded trying to sound like this was just any person on the street, but failing miserably.

"**Funny how here it seems as though little time has past, like not even a week has gone by, yet in the world of the living, years have gone by. How quickly they change while… while we stay the same." **The Judge seemed to be talking to no one in particular, yet his words seemed pointed straight at Benjamin.

"**Nothing much around here changes… I kind of miss change."** Benjamin decided to play along, talking outward as though his words were not affected by the conversation that wasn't a conversation.

"**The Bakehouse burnt down…seems that change can still occur here."**

"**Unlike the world of the living, here, change only occurs when we want it."**

At this the Judge turned and faced Benjamin and looked him in the eye, unsettling him.

"**Do you want that kind of change?"**

Did he? Looking at the Judge's smirking face…

**No.**

The Judge gave a small laugh.

**Good, for a minute I thought you were going to lie to me.**

The Judge started up the conversation that wasn't a conversation again.

**Of course sometimes change is forced due to extenuating circumstances. The sailor boy, I never thought he could pass as a gentleman, but it seems everyone can be something they are not if…givin' the proper …motivation. However this kind of change will only make things worse…**

**More worse then what?**

The Judge sighed deeply.

**It is like some bloody puzzle…only I don't have the final picture, so I'm not sure where to start. …You knew him better then I did. **

**Not well enough apparently. **

There was a long pregnant pause… just as long and just as awkward, but just as rewarding.

The Judge spoke first…

**You think that you could…**

**What seems to be the problem?**

The Judge seemed to be relieved at being cut off, and Benjamin seemed relieved that his plea had not reached his ears.

_I am going to handle this, unemotionally, and professionally._

_Sure you are…_

**I think it best if I just show you.**

The Judge tentatively coughed and held his hand out palm facing downward. Benjamin barely touched his hand before he was swept away again.


	16. Ah Miss

Yes I am back. Most of this story started as dream and this is to the part which is missing. I have the end in my mind, but how to get there is causing me much writer's block. I felt inspired however recently so more chapters should be on the way. Thank you for your patience, all of the people have put my story on story watch and have probably forgotten that they did so. And now....

Chapter 16 Ah Miss

_**The scene that unfolded before the Judge and Benjamin at first seemed idyllic. The country expanse stretched before them like straight out of a Jane Austen book. Even if neither of them had ever read any of her books. However upon closer inspection, there was nothing but discord. Angry yelling could be heard between staff, the master of the property was riding around on horseback with many hunting dogs at his feet and a rifle. He looked like he was on the prowl.**_

"Anthony!"

He yelled angrily.

Anthony came stumbling out of the furthest corner of the house. He straightened his stance as he stood before his father, half in fear and half in looks of rebellion.

"Another friend of mine is bringing his daughter and her companion over for tea today while we are to go out hunting. I expect your very best today. Mr. Clarke is one of my dearest friends...and God help you if you pull such a stunt as you did with Mr. Alexander's daughter, Claire last time."

Anthony took a deep breath as if to challenge this, but then only managed a weak, "Of course not Father."

He reentered the house and the Judge and Benjamin followed.

"What did he do last time?" Benjamin asked.

"I have no idea." The Judge replied honestly. "However he has not taken to being anything more then distant and polite with any of the females that I have seen."

Anthony ran up the stairs and the Judge and Benjamin lost him quickly. He crashed into a servant girl carrying towels and the whole mess feel down the stairs. Not even stopping to apologize or anything he turned left at the top of the stairs and continued on.

Instead of attempting to find Anthony like Benjamin had expected the Judge to do, Judge Turpin stopped to watch the servant girl pick up all the now dirty laundry. She was silent but tears were running down her face.

"He has no idea, or he would not ignore her or treat as such." The Judge commented outloud.

"Of what?" Benjamin asked.

"That his father needs a male heir to take on the manor in his death. This is why he has sought him out, even though he is illegitimate. However his father's multitude of female children do not fare as well. This one at least has a job and a home, unlike many others."

It seemed to Benjamin that there was more to the Judge's personal attachment to this girl then he was stating. However, he did not ask.

But then it was not needed, because the Judge had heard his thoughts. Benjamin and Sweeney found that this one way street was upsetting. In this case, it allowed them to get a better view of the man that they had both hated with a fiery passion. Of course it did not escape the Judge's as well as Benjamin and Sweeney's attention that the word had, had been thought.

"I had a sister once.... a half sister, but a sister none the less. She was illegitimate and therefore not allowed the privileges that I was. My father at least got my mother to agreed to take her in as a servant so she had a place to live. However, upon my father's death she was immediately fired and I never saw her again."

"Why are you so certain that he would treat her differently if he knew... after all you have shown nothing but dislike for the boy?"

The Judge gave a weak smile. "Because he reminds me of my half sister....who so hopefully believed that everything, even birthright and station, could be overcome with enough determination. And like her, his life has only gone to prove that this is not true. He knows this now, and his spirit is broken. He has learned he must play the game to survive."

Benjamin and Sweeney thought on this. " Did you ever learn what happened to your sister? Even if it was just a gravesite?"

"No, nothing."

At this Anthony came running down the steps again, looking cleaner and well dressed. He entered the drawing room as the front door was opened for their guests. Mr. Alexander's daughter was very well dressed and looked haughty as those she was very well aware of this fact. Her companion was dressed very modestly as though to further distinguish the difference between the two of them.

They sat down to tea and Mr. Alexander left for the hunt.

The tea went rather dully. Miss Alexander was dull. She spent most the talk time rambling on about the weather in Derbyshire and the folks that lived there and all the juicy gossip that went with their names. Her companion however spent the time rolling her eyes and pantomiming in the direction of Anthony every time Miss Alexander got annoying, which was quite frequently. Anthony had focus on nodding and smiling at Miss Alexander so as not have to focus on not quietly chuckling at the mime show to her left.

The tea cleanup was eventful however. The servant girl, the same one that Anthony had knocked over before on the stairs, dropped a tray of china cups. When Miss Alexander mocked her clumsiness, the girl began to cry. Anthony then turned and said "Enough, of you already. I want a girl who does not have to be prissy and mean to be important, what are a few cups in the grand scheme of things."

Miss Alexander was stunned into silence. Her companion hid a smile behind a hand, and the servant girl looked up from her tears to watch this scene.

" Furthermore, she must be educated, intellectual discussions are best, not babbling nonsense about this and that, and who did what. Frankly most men don't give a rat's..."

He stopped seeing that now Miss Alexander was crying.

"I don't mean to be boring. I hate lessons and I never knew my mother...I don't know how a lady aught to please her future husband..." She began hiccuping as well. This was a dramatic turn of events from her haughty demeanor.

Anthony seemed to take pity on her. "Sure, you have to be good at polite pretenses around here, but that isn't what really matters, not to me. ...Here I will show you how to have a good time."

Before long Benjamin and the Judge were following the three of them, Anthony, Miss Alexander and her companion out to the stables. They began to ride about the fields and forests on the estate.

Neither Benjamin nor the Judge knew quite how it started but before they knew it Miss Alexander's horse reared and she flew off into the mud. She began to laugh instead of cry which pleased Anthony. She even had sticks caught in her hair. "Haha, I look like some sort of swamp monster." Her companion added as she and Anthony got down off their horses to help her up, "Or a Mr. Livingston" This was clearly a personal joke as they both burst into laughter. The laughter stopped once they realized that the horses were nowhere in site.

"How are we supposed to get back now?" Miss Alexander began to complain. She looked down at herself. "My father is going to kill me." " I look like the whole forest is in my hair."

"Or a deer" The Judge muttered loudly.

At this, Anthony's eyes got wide and he began looking around. "Ladies get down."

The last thing that he saw was a man astride a horse with a rifle pointed in their direction in the distance. The last thing he did was turn to stand between the girls and the hunter. He had planned to flail his arms about to get the man's attention. But his arms had not even passed his sides before...

The last thing he heard was the shot and then the screams and then he lost consciousness. 


	17. There are two kinds of men

Chapter 17 There are two kinds of men and only two

_**The story of how he saved them was told over and over again with varying accuracy each time, while a doctor was fetched and multitudes of servants came from the house and brought him in, held the wound closed with various cloths, fetched water, and went about finding Anthony's father.**_

The doctor came and was in the room with Anthony for quite a long time. Servants flowed in and out in rapid succession. Anthony's father the once tall, majestic, harsh man was silent and small looking. What was a man supposed to do, when he realized that his prize deer was his prize son. No matter angry he might have been at Anthony before for even having though that it would be good idea to go into a forest where hunting was occurring, nothing could overshadow the anger he felt for himself.

"I think we just made things worse for Anthony." Benjamin spoke up.

"He pretty much brought the whole thing on himself, "was the Judge's reply. "If anything I think he heard me. Sure it means he got shot, but it also makes him a hero, to have stood in front of the girls."

"There is no such thing as heroes. There only those that wish to die and those that wish to live. How they manage one or the other only says something about how bad they want to be remember for whichever path they took." Benjamin proclaimed.

"Quite the cynic aren't you," the Judge seemed surprised. "I pictured you for a misguided romantic."

"Maybe at one point in my life, I suppose. I would not taken you for a romantic either." Benjamin added.

"I'm not."

Benjamin thought on this. "Perhaps the only romantic thing I have ever really thought was about Lucy. The first time I saw her, I told my friend who was with me that...

"I had found the girl that I wanted to marry," both the Judge and Benjamin finished the line the exact same way.

This left the two of them in eerie silence. They ignored this uncomfortable silence by both turning to watch the scene before them again.

The doctor had come out of the room. He looked rather solemn at first, but when the tears began to fall from Miss Alexander, he shushed her with a wave of his hand.

"He will live."

Before Miss Alexander could make any kind of joyful disturbance, he glared at her made motions that he had more to say.

"However, the bullet has hit some major nerves, and he is in a great deal of pain. I have taken to giving him some Laudium for the pain. He is asleep now and I suggest that he stay that way." He gestured that people should leave the area.

Anthony's father remained. "Thank you Dr. Locke, for all of your help. What should I do to insure he stays comfortable?"

The doctor handed him a bottle of Laudium. "Administer this, one spoonful only, with intense pain, and makes sure the wound is properly cleaned everyday. If the wound appears to look worse, just call me."

"Thank you again, Dr. Locke."

"I hope that his health improves. And perhaps you aught to see a doctor about some glasses. Your vision is not as good as it was when we were young. You could tell what species of pheasant you were aiming at from quite a distance."

Anthony's father looked towards the ground in shame. He had glasses, which had been given to him, but had been so proud of his formerly glorious vision that he had not been wearing them. And Dr. Locke knew this, because he had given them to him.

"I think we have seen enough for now." The Judge remarked. "With this added problem, it is unlikely he will even live much longer."

Benjamin nodded and closed his eyes.  



	18. Mea Culpa

Chapter 18 Mea Culpa

The two of them found themselves not back in front of the destroyed bakehouse, but in front of Old Bailey. The irony of the courthouse to the both of their lives and what they had just seen had not escaped either men's attention. The streets and steps were empty save for one thing. She was dressed in the dress she had been wearing the night that Benjamin had met her for the first time. She looked like an angel in all ways but one. She had her eyes closed at first, but they opened when she heard them. And her eyes told the story that she was upset.

**"Lucy"** Judge Turpin spoke first.

Benjamin turned in anger at this. **"Don't you even speak to her. After all you have no right to even address her so formally." **

The Judge was about to reply, when Lucy burst into tears.

The two men were confused and neither was sure whether they should make a move to comfort her without making the situation worse.

**"It's all my fault."** She sobbed.

Both men were silent. **"This is not your fault, Lucy. The vile monster to my left, is who started all of this." **Benjamin remarked angrily.

This made Lucy sob even louder.

Judge Turpin swallowed an anger curt remark to such a statement because Lucy was looking at him, her eyes begging him to drop it.

Sweeney noticed this. _"Leave him alone, I wanted to hear her logic._" Benjamin quietly grumbled but let his face show that he was willing to listen.

**"Why do you think such a thing, Lucy?" **Sweeney asked.

Lucy stopped crying so as to better explain. She rubbed her eyes with her sleeve.

**"It was all because of the money." **

This left both men more confused so she had to explain.

**"Remember the will, when my father died?"** She looked to Benjamin.

**"Yes, he left you quite a comfortable sum each month."**

Lucy sniffed. **"I lied."**

**"My father disowned me for marrying you."**

Benjamin blinked. **"I knew the man didn't like me, but... but why did you tell me that he had left you money." **

**"Because you were worried about our finances because rent was so expensive."  
**  
**"But then where was that extra money coming from?"**

**"Beadle Bamford." **

At this both men looked suspiciously at each other.

Lucy continued.

**"The Judge was interested in me, I could tell that. When I would pass by the court steps to and from market, he would watch me. I was always wearing my gloves so he could not see my ring. He made advances, and when I first spurned him, Beadle Bamford approached me. He told me that if I changed my mind that my financial troubles could be limited." **

Judge Turpin looked disgusted and knew where this was headed. He looked half angry, half ashamed. Sweeney watched his face. He was certain he knew where this was headed too, but wanted Benjamin to hear it for himself. So he prodded further.

**"So you, what exactly?"**

Lucy wiped her eyes again. **"I let him talk to me at first, laughed at his bad jokes, smiled at his stories, and let him pinch... and pat me. He began to think I was interested. The money was helping your new business, so I let it continue. Then it progressed to touches, hand holding and kisses on the cheeks. He would praise me and my charm and beauty over and over, and...I felt sorry for him. He was so awkward in ways that you never were. Then when we had baby Johanna, the money got tighter. So I let him go further. When he went to go further, he saw the ring, and asked why I was doing this if I was married. Johanna was sick and we needed the money, andBamford had said that he would pay me more... for more. He said I made the Judge happy, and he in turn made other people happy. More young delinquents got more fair judgments, more second chances."** She began to sob more here.

Both men were silent for different reasons so she took the opportunity to finish.

**"I told him that I... I didn't love you anymore, that our marriage had gone by the wayside and that it was all about him now. If only we weren't married then...." **She was almost impossible to hear at this point through the sobbing. So the last part was finishedout loud by Judge Turpin.

**"... then we could be together." **

Benjamin seemed lost for words. He understood now how and why he had been disposed of. But what he could not figure out was why she hadn't come to him, why he hadn't seen this in the first place.

Lucy interpreted his shame at himself, as being ashamed at her, and began to beseech him.

**"Don't think of me, as some of some sort of whore. I did it for you, for us, for our family. **

Benjamin held her in his arms as she sobbed. **"Why didn't you tell me this? Any of this?**"

**"Because you were too proud, you would not have accepted this."**

Benjamin sighed. **"My one true fault."**

Lucy looked up at him. **"So... you are not angry with me." **

Benjamin and Sweeney looked her in the eyes. **"No"**

She began to sob again, this time in relief.

Benjamin held her until she was silent.

Sweeney was thinking during all of this. Benjamin heard him ask her, **"So what do you see when you close your eyes?" **

She looked like she was about to cry again, so he held her closer.

**"My baby."**

"Johanna?"

"No"

Benjamin took in a sharp breath. **"His baby?"**

"Yes"

He remembered that the Judge was still there when he made a gasp.

**"We had a baby?"** the Judge asked.

Lucy turned to look at him.

**"Yes"**

Judge Turpin looked at her sadly. **"What happened?"**

**"I tried to kill it...I was so angry at you and the whole situation, that I tried everything. The steps, the heavy lifting, the various plants. And almost killed myself in the process. But I managed to... kill the baby." **

She began to cry softly. ** " And now, I have to see, over and over again, what he could have been for the world. What kind of beautiful soul I destroyed. He would have been a headmaster, his children doctors, school teachers, and many more things. He could have made the world a better place. My anger destroyed my own life, and the lives of many others."**

Judge Turpin walked over and put his hand on her back to comfort her, to assure her that he was not angry with her. And Benjamin and Sweeney allowed it.


	19. Alms, Alms

I'm back, thank you for those who still keep up with me. This has passed the point where my initial dream that prompted it stopped, but I felt that this story needed a bigger, more final ending, so I have been letting the story as of Chapter 14 unfold in its own time.

And now, the plot doth thicken.

Chapter 19 Alms, Alms

Benjamin must have closed his eyes as he held Lucy because before long, the two of them as well as Judge Turpin were in an unusual scene.

As far a Benjamin could tell this was not about Toby, and it didn't seem to be about Anthony either.

Yet Lucy looked confused when she looked around and right away asked him if this was what he saw when he closed his eyes.

Then they saw themselves. Much younger and walking hand in hand. Their younger selves did not seem to see them so the two of them stood watching, trying to remember this exact moment.

Their younger selves seemed to be walking home from a party late at night. Suddenly a young girl, about 14 or 15 ran around the corner frightened.

"Come back here, Hope. I didn't mean nothing by it, really. I'm sorry." A man in his twenties beckoned her from the end of the street. Something about the man seemed to strike Sweeney.

_Oh, how little I realized our fates were intertwined. _

_What do you mean?_

_Do you remember this night?_

Barely.

Study the man closely.

Benjamin took observing him closely. He did look familiar.

"I'm with child," the girl seemed to consider turning back and running toward him, but kept settled for telling him this from halfway down the street.

The man's face turned to rage. He came towards her.

She cowered and fell to her knees, and voiced trembling kept repeating over and over, "It's yours, it is, it's yours, I swear."

Benjamin heard his younger self pull Lucy away from the scene, and down another alley. He remembered all too well how she had wanted to stay. The girl was much too young and the man seemed violent she had said then. She wanted to help her, but Benjamin had said it was none of their business.

This time they stayed to watch however, the two of them at a very different point in their relationship.

The girl was not beaten by the man, whom Benjamin could not yet place. She was brought into his arms.

"You swear it. You swear on the holy name of God that it is mine."

"I swear on the holy name of God that it is yours."

"Then that is a different matter all together. Now you really do belong to me."

The girl didn't seem happy with this at all, but the man could not see her face which was looking past his arms as he held her.

But the girl's eyes did look familiar to Benjamin. And Lucy seemed to be putting two and two together.

_Oh, God._

Ironic isn't it?

_It's his father...Anthony's father._

Lucy left his arms. She turned to Judge Turpin. He seemed lost in his own thoughts.

"You asked me if I knew anything at all. That is all I have. Just this memory."

He turned to look at her and there were tears in his eyes.

"Thank you."

Lucy merely smiled in return.

"If I had known, maybe things would have been different," Turpin seemed remorseful.

"Knowledge is a funny thing isn't it."

The memory faded. The alley remained. There in the place of the girl was a middle age woman who looked ill and well abused.

Turpin ran into her arms recognizing her immediately. Benjamin and Sweeney merely watched with bated breath as the two truths this vision had brought to their awareness ironically became united.

"How I missed you, Hope. I looked for you everywhere."

"I didn't want to be found."

"Why?"

"I was embarrassed, I had no honor left. My...occupation did not afford me any honor. You were all about honor and duty. I believed all of these things and so therefore I honored you by hiding and I accepted my duties when they came about."

"The child, did it live?"

"Yes, he lived. And a fine young thing, bright-eyed and noble he became. His spirit could not be crushed, and traveled the world taking in all its wonders."

"What was his name?"

His sister, Hope did not get to answer the question. Sweeney spoke up for her.

"Anthony"

At this the Judge turned to look at him. With a strange look on his face he asked to the group at large.

"The sailor boy?"

Benjamin nodded.

His sister looked between the two of them confused back and forth.

"Anthony Hope" Benjamin addressed her.

"Yes... that was what he called himself. It was his way of honoring my name after having gone into hiding. Did you know him?"

Benjamin paused. Sweeney answered.

"He was a good man and I owe him my life. Well, before I died anyway."

This seemed to please Hope, but Turpin seemed to be worse off with all this information.

"Oh, God, how you seek to torment me, I know I justly deserve it, but why? Why did you allow all this to happen, what did I ever do to deserve all of this?" Turpin began weeping. Lucy approached him, consoling him with her hand rubbing circles on his back.

It was then, that Benjamin finally understood something important.

_Perhaps she may not have started this all, because she loved him, but she loves him all the same._

More so then she loves us.

Benjamin nodded, knowing this to be true. He might have found this to be at least upsetting before his death, but today he did not.

_You are becoming, what we need to be, at peace. Peace with others and more importantly ourselves._

Benjamin sighed deeply and began to walk towards the two of them.

"Lucy"

Lucy looked up eyes moist.

" I tried to tell you, I tried to tell him, but he would not let her be, he insisted on pursuing her. Johanna."

Benjamin smiled, "In that way, we were more alike then either of us would have guessed, and more then he, I am sure wants to admit, at least now."

_You know what we ought to do now, don't you?_

Yes, Sweeney, I do know.

"Lucy... Judge Turpin, you know what we have to fix."

They looked at each other, knowingly in a way that Benjamin and Lucy had never done in life.

"Anthony."

Turpin and Lucy took hands and then Lucy held her other hand out to Benjamin as Turpin smiled at his half-sister and reached for her hand. Together they stood joining hands in the middle of the alley and Turpin closed his eyes first and the rest followed suit. 


	20. Pale and Ivory Skin

I just didn't feel inspired to finish this until recently. I don't know if anyone is out there, still reading this story, since I have had no REVIEWS for the last three chapters... :( But those of you that are and those of you are now going to find this story for the first time, don't worry the end is near, I'm guessing 5 more chapters. Hope you like it...aka let me know if you do or don't. PLEASE!

Chapter 20 Pale and Ivory Skin

_**The first thing that Benjamin saw was a fireplace blazing. In front of it was a large master's chair, its back facing him. He looked side to side, seeing the rest of the group still holding hands.**_

_**"Rebecca!" A gruff, but strained voice yelled from the chair.**_

_**A servant woman came running from down the hall, skidding to a halt in front of the chair, pausing only to straighten her apron before lowering her head and addressing the voice.**_

_**"Yes, sir."**_

_**"You know what I need, Rebecca. It is becoming unbearable again."**_

_**"But sir, you have exceeded the dose the doctor has allowed you for today...**_

_**The voice cut her off. "You know damn well the doctor does not care a lick about my pain. Only concerned for his own reputation. Thinks he will kill me with too much, he says, it is all in my head, he says, well I'd like it to be in his head, then he wouldn't treat me like such a child, then he would see that I need exactly what I asked for."**_

_**The servant woman made motions to cut him off, but he proceeded to drown over her before she could start.**_

_**"If you won't give me it, I will get up and get it myself."**_

_**"Sir,..."**_

_**"Will you or won't you get it, bitch!"**_

_**The servant woman took a deep breath, closed her eyes and then reopened them before responding.**_

_**"No sir, I will not. In fact I will not be treated like this. I quit sir, you can get your own poison yourself. You know exactly where it is kept, I would like to see you even make it over there. You haven't ever left this chair for three days."**_

_**"Because I am in pain, dammit."**_

_**Rebecca breathed deeply again. "Yes sir, in more ways then one."**_

_**And with that she left the voice alone shutting the door behind her.**_

_**Benjamin glanced over at the Judge, knowing full well he could hear his thoughts. He looked at Benjamin.**_

_**"I know."**_

_**Hope had broken grasp with Turpin and walked to see the voice in the chair. When she covered her mouth and began to silently cry, the rest walked over following her.**_

_**Benjamin almost did not recognize Anthony. He was pale and his eyes were sunken in. He was no longer broad and muscular, but wasted away and skeletal. Benjamin guessed only five or six years had passed since they last saw him, putting him about 36 or so years old, but he looked more like 50 or more.**_

_**Anthony's gaze was in the direction of a cabinet on the other side of the room. He slowly began to raise himself from the chair, moaning and cursing all the while. He picked up a cane nearby and began to slowly hobble.**_

_**Hope now moved to sobbing, watching his every move. Lucy put her arm around her, her own eyes moist. Even Turpin seemed to barely be holding himself together, his half-sister's grief striking him at a place he could barely control.**_

_**Anthony had almost reached the halfway point, when he proceeded to slip and crash to the ground. Unable to get up, he began to swear, then shout for other people, then when no one answered his shouts, he sunk into silence, and began to slowly weep.**_

_**When he could cry no more, and sunk back into silence, Benjamin walked over towards him.**_

_**"What happened to you, how did you get to be so far from the man I thought you were?" Benjamin spoke out loud.**_

_**Sweeney responded in his head. "How did you?"**_

_**Benjamin sighed deeply.**_

_**Just then the door opened. In came the last person, Benjamin had ever suspected.**_

_**Johanna.**_

_**It was clear she had aged as well. Though she looked better off, she still looked tired and burdened. She was dressed in the way an old school marm would with her hair tied back just as tight. She had but one wisp of a curl that would not stay and she kept tucking it behind her ear. And while she maintained a regal posture, Benjamin could tell that it was only the corset holding her upright so proudly, and there was the smell of liquor on her breath.**_

_**"Rebecca" Anthony moaned from the floor.**_

_**"No, she has quit and for good I should think this time."**_

_**"Then leave me in peace."**_

_**"As if you could be at peace." Johanna gave a little laugh, one that was cynical and yet familiar to Anthony.**_

_**He turned his head on the ground to see her. He stared her a great while before something clicked in his tired, broken mind.**_

_**"J..Johanna."**_

_**"Yes."**_

_**"W..what are you doing here?"**_

_**"I was told you lived here. And now I see that it is true. what everyone says."**_

_**"And what is that?"**_

_**"Nothing nice, I can assure you."**_

_**There was a long moment of silence, as everyone in the room stood in amazement waiting to see what happened next, or silently confused.**_

_**Johanna strode to the chair, turned it to face Anthony and sat. Pulling out a flask from her reticule, she proceeded to take a swig.**_

_**"We have not seen each other, since...since... well and you are going to just sit there and drink while I lay here on the floor?" Anthony seemed more surprised then angry.**_

_**"I did not come to help you destroy yourself, you can do that well enough without me. I came to see...to see...well I am not really sure what I expected to get from seeing you again, but I knew that I must. Clearly neither of us is the same person, so I do not expect to stay too much longer."**_

_**At that moment, the unexpected happened. A burly man appeared behind the chair Johanna was seated in. Many years had passed since Benjamin had laid eyes on him, and therefore he did not recognize him. However his arm was holding another person's hand who appeared to be on the floor. And when the hand made a sound and tried to let go of the man's hand, Benjamin and Sweeney recognized her immediately.**_

_**"Let go of me."**_

_**"You closed your eyes again didn't you, Nellie? You are weak and pathetic. Here I try and show you how to strengthen yourself and you keep copping out. Why do we need to see her again? Huh? How does she make you stronger?"**_

_**At this the man slapped the woman who Benjamin could not see, but knew very well. At this his blood began to boil.**_

_**The man began to pull Mrs. Lovett up, to force her to look at Johanna. The more Mrs. Lovett sobbed, the harder Johanna began to breath.**_ _** Johanna took another swig. **_

_**Sweeney and Benjamin did not even need consult each other before their fist met the side of the man's face. **_

_**The man seemed barely affected, but turned to look at his attacker. "Who are you?"**_

"_**Does that matter? What gives you the right to right to treat your wife as such and come in here and mess with my daughter's life?" **_

_**At this the man's eyes widened. "You...Benjamin Barker." He began to laugh, a laugh that made the lot of them uncomfortable. **_

_**He dropped Mrs. Lovett and strode over to stare Benjamin in the face. **_

"_**She always did fancy you, stared out the window as you would pass by, she did. Never more then a moments notice for me. And you wouldn't give her more then the time of day." He began to laugh again, in manner most unsettling. "So, I hear you told her off, that she would never be good enough for you."**_

_**Benjamin bristled. "What I said was, I could never be the man she wanted me to be, the man she deserves, which clearly you can't be either, so I don't feel it is your place to judge me for stating the honest truth."**_

_**Mr. Lovett became angry. "How dare you make such statements about my place as her husband? You don't see me making statements about your worthiness as a husband?"**_

_**At this Mr. Lovett clenched his fists and roared. The fire in the hearth roared and the lights flickered.**_

_**The two might-as-well-have-been dead people in the room seemed to notice the effects of this aggressive display. Anthony's eyes widen and Johanna jumped nervously out of the chair. **_

_**The fire place went from roaring to fizzling out and Johanna tentatively used the fire poker to stir some of the logs. Johanna took another swing from the flask. **_

_**Mr. Lovett took the opportunity to swing at Benjamin and Benjamin fell backwards and his essence seemed to pass right through Johanna's body and land on the floor at her side. This startled Johanna causing her to drop the flask and she bent over to pick it up for before too much poured out in the fire place. At this moment the one stray curl fell from behind her ear and reached just far enough in to the fire that when the alcohol reached the flames it soared and caught it ablaze. **_

_**Mr. Lovett laughed, standing back watching her attempt to frantically put it out. Benjamin and company stood by in horror unable to help her. **_

_**Mrs. Lovett had taken the opportunity however to crawl away for her husband and was sitting by Anthony on the floor. She seemed to disappear and Anthony stood up and rushed to the other side of the room, grabbed a pitcher of water and doused Johanna's head in it. Anthony reached out to catch her as she fainted but the weight was too much for his weakened body and he crashed to the floor with her. **_

_**Mrs. Lovett rose out of his prone figure and looked her now silent husband in the eye. "You should not have taught me all your tricks." Nellie took another step forward. "I was glad when you died. I thought I could finally be free of you and your iron rule over my body... neigh my life. I did not love you and you did not love me. Yet you insisted upon marrying me. You knew my situation could not call for a refusal,and you took advantage of this." Nellie's voice began to build. "But, I do not need your money, your protection, or your abuse." **_

_**She slapped him full on with as much strength as she possessed. "Leave me." **_

_**Mr. Lovett began to fade away as mist melts away as the sunrises. **_

_**The other members in the room stared in shock. Only Benjamin appeared not to be astounded by Mrs. Lovett's outburst. He merely gave her a slight smile. **_

_**Anthony began to come to, drawing the attention back to the two of them sitting on the floor in a puddle. **_

"_**Ugh." Anthony groaned. "I think that is the fastest I have moved in a long time. It happened so fast I don't even recall thinking at all."**_

_**Johanna turned to look him in the eye. She said nothing in response, but her eyes looked back at him in a way that she had not looked at anything in a very long time, with clarity and understanding. And his eyes looked back at her in the same manner.**_

"_**I know what I... what we must do." She stated plainly eyes gazing upward in hope. **_

"_**What?"Anthony asked.**_

"_**We must rent a boat."**_


	21. Had a chance for the moon on a string

I got a review! So here is another chapter...thanks for poking me along. :D A brief musical song is in this chapter to honor the musical aspect of this story which inspired me to feel like I knew these characters from the start.

Chapter 21 Had her chance for the moon on a string

The scene ended. Mrs. Lovett had closed and opened her eyes and the lot of them were left standing in front of the Old Bailey's.

It was clear to Sweeney and Benjamin that this would be the very last time he saw Lucy,even though neither of them could have described why.

They turned to face Lucy who was still holding the Judge's hand and his own. She met his gaze with tearful but unwavering eyes.

"We were great once, but that was long ago." Lucy nodded unsurprised at this statement. "I have lost everything, but that doesn't mean that for you it has to be so."

Lucy looked at the ground. "You think you know what I want? How can you possibly assume this about me after all this?" She seemed hurt rather then angry.

Sweeney nudged. Benjamin nervously sang to her for the first time since they had arrived in the godforsaken hell or even in many years before that. The two of them had once sang together often in flirting courtship and doing so again just felt right.

"_I wouldn't know what you want, I won't presume._

_but I leave you free to do, what you want to do. _

_Stay if you like, you know I wouldn't mind. _

_But it has been a long time _

_and you mightn't feel the same, _

_and I wouldn't blame you." _

Lucy looked up again and her voice rang back quietly but clear as a bell.

"_I have always loved you, _

_this you know to be true._

_I would stay if you wanted to me to. _

_But only because I love you."_

Benjamin didn't resume singing. He smiled for the first time since death. "I love you too. Be free."

Lucy turned around and hugged Hope who was still tearful. Lucy looked up at the Judge who was standing behind her. "Goodbye Richard. You know it must be thus. Maybe had life happened differently, but..."

He tightened his grip on his sister's shoulder and nodded.

Lucy approached Mrs. Lovett who appeared to be trying to ignore the whole scene before her by starring intently at the architecture of the building before them.

Lucy placed her hand on her shoulder, and whispered in her ear. Nellie turned her head away from the rest of the group. Lucy came around to her front side. They shared a look, and then Lucy hugged her. When she broke away, she looked back at Benjamin and smiled. She began humming a familiar lullaby and she faded off never to be seen again by anyone present.

Hope broke the silence. She turned to her half brother her eyes still full of tears. "My son, my beautiful baby, we need to go back, we need to do something."

The Judge seemed at a loss for words, so Mrs. Lovett stepped forward. "Indeed we do!"

She looked at Benjamin, who slowly moved back over to the group.

He coughed quietly, "We all have a lot to make up for."

Richard Turpin muttered awkward thanks and took Mrs. Lovett's offered hand. The four of them stood in a circle and closed their eyes.


End file.
